Once in a Blue Moon
by USA Tiger
Summary: Zack Fair's afterlife is turned around when a ghost from another world by the name of Lily Potter comes looking for someone to help her son. Zack volunteers but there's a catch, he'll have to live as a dog. Now Harry Potter has now found himself with a pretty big dose of luck as he gains a new best friend and body guard in the form of a certain form First Class SOLDIER.
1. Chapter 1

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

Author note: An amusing idea that popped into my head a few weeks ago and wouldn't go away.

My best buddy Asilyessam has betaed this chapter for me.

Chapter 1

Zack… was… bored!

No really, he was. It was unbelievable just how _bored_ he was. The Lifestream was a nice place, don't get him wrong. It often looked like a field of those yellow flowers that his girlfriend Aerith grew in the church in Midgar but damn it was boring as hell. Being dead wasn't really all it was cracked up to be. Yeah, he had Aerith there and he sometimes hung out with Angeal and sometimes he would watch his buddy Cloud but since the whole thing with the Remnants and Sephiroth coming back Cloud was finally getting his life in shape. Zack really hoped his little buddy would finally settle down with someone.

Still, death was _boring._ He didn't need to eat or drink. He didn't need to sleep and he could only do so many squats before he got bored with that too. He had only been allowed to visit the living world a couple of times as a wolf, and that never lasted very long. So yes, Zack was bored out of his skull.

"Zack!" Zack blinked as he heard someone calling his name. He had completely zoned out in his boredom. "Zackary Fair!" Oh wait, that was Aerith's voice!

"Coming babe!" Zack said as he jumped up and ran toward his lady's voice. It didn't take long to find her, there wasn't much here in the afterlife after all and he was only a little surprised to see her with another person. It happen sometimes, with Aerith being a Cetra she watched over and spoke to all the souls here in the Lifestream. "What's up?"

"Zack, this is Lily Potter," Aerith said with a small wave in the other woman's direction. Lily, Zack noticed, was a pretty young woman around Aerith's height and age when they had both been alive. She hand long firey red hair that would put Reno to shame and eyes an even more vivid green than his Aerith's.

"Hi!" Zack said cheerfully. "So what did you need?"

"Zack… we were hoping you could do a small favor for Lily… well more like a big favor," Aerith said. "Go ahead Lily."

"This is going to sound a little unbelievable but I am not from the same world as you," Lily said, Zack noticed she had some sort of accent that he couldn't place.

"Eh?!" Zack exclaimed.

"Zack there are many many worlds out there," Aerith said. "The Lifestream is connected to a greater afterlife for many worlds. Lily came here from her world's part of the afterlife look for help."

"Ok… that's a lot to take in but ok, continue," Zack said rubbing the back of his head.

"My world is called Earth, when I was alive I was a magic user called a 'Witch'. A few years ago, my husband James and I were murdered by a mad man calling himself Voldemort. A dark lord hell-bent on taking over the world," Lily continued explaining. "He then tried to kill our son but the spell backfired thank's to a spell I placed on Harry."

"Wow, that sucks. But I'm glad to hear your kid is ok," Zack said, wondering what sort of manic would attack a helpless kid. Well… other than Sephiroth after he lost his mind. Lily sighed and rubbed her face.

"He's alive but I wouldn't say alright. When I placed the ward on Harry, I was assuming he would go live with someone James and I approved of. Instead the Headmaster at our old school Dumbledore, who was also heading the fight against Voldemort, placed him with my older sister Petunia. Whom I stated in my will was to _never_ get Harry," she said. "But Dumbledore for whatever reason decided that the ward I placed on Harry was based on blood and he needed to live with his closet living relative that was blood related to me to keep the spell strong. Instead all he's done is weaken the spell, it was based on love not blood."

"So umm, why didn't you want your kid living with your sister?" Zack asked.

"Petunia non-magical, what witches and wizards call a muggle. She was jealous of me because I had magic and decided that 'magic' was 'unnatural'. The man she married is even worse, they are some of the most horrible people and I've had to sit by and watched my baby be abused by them," Lily cried and covered her face. Zack fumed in anger, he really didn't like that sound of that.

"Damn, I wish there was something I could do to help," Zack said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"There is, this is where the favor comes in," Aerith said. "Zack, we were hoping that you could go to Earth and watch over Harry. Become his bodyguard after a fashion. But…well…"

"What? I'm not going to like this am I?" Zack asked. Aerith sighed softly.

"The Lifestream can give you back a body but… because Earth is so far away from the Planet, there isn't any way for you to be human all of the time. You would have to be something smaller say like… a dog?"

"A dog…" Zack said. He had been called puppy by his mentor Angeal lots of time when they had both been alive but really, he had to be a dog?

"Well… I guess it could be something else but as a dog no one would blink an eye as you living with Harry," Aerith pointed out.

"You said 'all of the time'," Zack said.

"You would change back into human when you need to protect Harry against something really dangerous," Aerith explained. "Then afterward you would turn back into a dog." Zack sighed and started doing squats as he thought it over. He would be _alive_ again… but as a dog. Well… he figured there were worse things to be. He would be out of this damn boring Lifestream… heck they were talking about sending him to a whole other _world!_ And he really didn't like the picture Lily was painting about her kid's life. She had even said flat out he was abused. That just made Zack boiling mad…

"Alright," He said as he stopped his squats and turned to face the ladies again. "Why me?"

"Lily wanted someone who can watch and protect Harry and always be in his corner," Aerith said with a smile her hands clasped behind her back while Lily nodded in agreement. "You were the first person I thought was best for the job."

"Ok, I can go with that," Zack said. He then puffed out his chest a bit and struck a pose. "Zack Fair 1st class SOILDER is on the job!"

"Thank you so much," Lily said in relief.

"So… how am I going to find the kid?" Zack asked as he rubbed the back of his head. "Heck, how am I even going to be able to communicate with him? Animals don't talk after all… except for Red 13 and his race."

"Well me and Lily have be talking about that," Aerith said as she sat down among her flowers, Lily following after her. Zack shrugged and sat down with them, it sounded like Aerith already knew he was going to agree with this mad idea… well she did know he pretty well.

"We think that if I offer up some of my magic to use in the spell to send you to my world it will create a connection with Harry so you can find him," Lily said. "A bit like a familiar bond."

"A what bond?" Zack asked confused.

"Familiar, it's when a magic user's magic bonds with an animal. The animal usually becomes a lot smarter, lives a much longer life span than it usually would and will be a close companion for the witch or wizard," Lily explained. "Their bond also allows the familiar to always find their master or mistress. Depending on the level of the bond, some can even understand their familiar to a certain point."

"And with Lily's magic and my magic helping to form a similar bond, we're hoping that not only will you be able to always find Harry but to also be able to speak to him with your mind," Aerith added.

"Like a telepath?" Zack asked. When Aerith nodded he grinned. "Cool."

"But Harry would be the only person that could hear you," Lily said. She was really anxious to start and get her baby the protection he needed! Zack noticed how wound up Lily was and decided they should go ahead and get this over with.

"OK, how do we start then?" He asked. Aerith smiled and took one of Lily's hands in her's then leaned forward to kiss Zack, drawing on Lily's power with her own and sending it into her man. Zack started a bit at the surprise kiss and felt a jolt of energy before everything turned into a white light and felt himself quickly floating away.

"Tell Harry his father and I love him!" Lily called loudly as the ball of light that was Zack disappeared. She then seemed to realize something and cursed. "Bloody hell, I forgot to tell him about Sirius!"

* * *

The trip from the Planet to Earth seem to be over in an instant, one second Zack was in the Lifestream getting one last kiss from Aerith and the next he was laying in a bed of those yellow flowers… and he was _breathing!_

Zack quickly jumped up and shook himself all over, sending dirt, grass blades and flower petals flying every were then took a deep breath.

 _'Ahhhh… never realize just how much you miss breathing until you can't anymore,'_ Zack thought to himself then wrinkled his nose. _'Gaaa… it stinks here almost like it did in Midgar.'_ It was the smell of pollution, but without that mako tang to it. Shaking himself again Zack sat down on his hunches. They did it, he was really alive again… but as a dog this time. He wasn't sure… but he thought he might be bigger as a dog than he had been as a wolf. And he felt something a little tight around his neck, his back leg coming up to scratch at it and to relieve that itch he had just right…. Aahhhh right there. He felt something under his foot that circled around his neck and something jingled from it.

 _'Ah wait… a collar? Huh… guess that makes sense, I'm sorta suppose to be the kid's pet after all…. This damn thing better not be pink babe!'_ Zack huffed and stood up. He needed to find the kid so how… he felt something tug at him deep inside Curious, Zack turned in the direction the tugging was coming from and _felt_ like he was going in the right direction as he followed the sensation. _'Neat… so that's what they meant by being able to find the kid.'_ With a happy woof Zack trotted down the invisible path, thank the Planet he already had practice walking on all fours from the short time he ran around as a wolf otherwise he would more than likely would have tripped over his feet already.

Zack quickly discovered that not only could he breath again, but his new body needed all the other things alive bodies needed. He had to stop and eat and drink, to sleep and of course to use the little SOILDER's room. Sleeping and using the bathroom wasn't too hard as long as he found a good out of the way spot where no one could disturb him. Food and drink on the other hand… well that was a little trickier.

While he had found a pretty girl or two to slip him some food, Zack found himself knocking over garbage cans looking for food after a couple of days of only a few scraps. It honestly wasn't that much worse than what he had to do to keep himself and Cloud fed while they were on the run from Shinra and the Turks. Didn't mean he was happy about it. He also had to resort to drink from water puddles… nasty.

He did finally get a good look at himself while drinking from a pond. He was in fact a very large dog, with short black fur that was a little longer on top of his head and a bit 'spiky' looking like his normal hair style. There was also a patch of white fur on his left cheek in the shape of his scar. Zack had heard somebody say he looked a lot like a 'Great Dane'. He had no idea what the heck that was and could only assume it was a breed of dog native to this world.

He was relieved to find that the collar was in fact not pink like he had feared but rather the same color as his 1st class SOILDER uniform top, a very dark blue that looked almost black. Zack was rather amused to find the tag hanging from it was in the shape of the Buster sword and much to his surprised he had material orbs lining the collar. Three summon material and four magic, nice little gifts from his girlfriend.

It also occurred to him at that time that he was seeing in color, like a human would. He had always heard that dogs couldn't see color like a human could…. Maybe that was wrong? Or more than likely Aerith and Lily made it so he could see like a human…. Or maybe it was because he wasn't really a dog? Either way he wasn't going to question it.

He also learned about this new world, finding it very much the same yet different from the Planet. Some of the technologies seem to be the same, but he wouldn't really know until after he found Harry and took the time to get to know his new home.

As he traveled the tugging got stronger and stronger which Zack hoped meant he was getting closer to Harry. One day, a week after arriving on Earth, Zack found himself in a nice little park in a neighborhood. The tugging was like a really strong pull now, leading him further and further into the woods. And then he found himself in a little patch of a clearing… and it stopped.

And sitting curled up at the base of a tree was a young boy with unruly black hair, a skinny frame and wearing clothing that was much too big for him.

This was Zack Fair, former 1st class SOILDER of Shinra, first meeting with Harry Potter, the Boy-who-lived.

* * *

Harry could say without a doubt he was having a rotten no good day. This wasn't too much different from other days he had, some worse than others, but somehow it _seemed_ even worse as it was his birthday. On his birthday he seemed to have even more chores placed on him by his Aunt and his cousin Dudley went out of his way to torment Harry that no one cared that it was his birthday and that he wouldn't get a cake or presents unlike Dudley who had a large cake and a ridiculous amount of presents each year. To say his cousin was spoiled was putting it lightly.

Today though, his Aunt Petunia had just a little too much sherry and had started in on Harry telling him how much he was like his 'freak' mother and how no one would ever love him. How much he was a burden on the family and how she wished she listened to Vernon on the day they found him on their doorstep to just throw him out. It had been too much for Harry, you think he would be use to the verbal abuse from his relatives but he was still a kid and it hurt so much to know his only family hated him. Then the lights in the room exploded in his hurt and anger. He knew he caused it, Harry was forever just _causing_ strange things to happen. Another reason that his aunt and uncle called him a freak. With his aunt screeching like a banshee, Harry had bolted from the house and ran all the way to the park in Little Whinging where he lived with his relatives. There was a little patch of woods there where he hid sometimes, one of the few safe places where he was never found.

Harry knew he was going to get it as soon as he got home, there was no way his aunt or uncle was going to let him go unpunished for doing something strange that he just couldn't explain. If he was lucky it would just be a couple of days in his cupboard under the stairs with very little to eat. It would depend on how his Uncle Vernon's day was going but knowing his luck Aunt Petunia has already called him and told him what happen. Yeah, his day just sucked.

Harry sighed and drew his legs up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them and his chin resting on his knees. Why couldn't he just have a nice normal birthday? Thinking about how much his life sucked Harry couldn't help but make a little wish to himself.

 _'I wish I had a friend,'_ he thought depressed. Just then something snapped and Harry jumped in surprise, his head jerking up and his green eyes wide at the _huge_ black dog in his hiding place. He and the dog stared at each other for a moment before dog's mouth open in what could only be described as a 'doggy grin' and he bounced over in excitement. Harry was wary; he did not have all that great experiences with dogs thanks to Aunt Marge's bulldog Ripper.

"G-good dog," Harry said raising a trembling hand to pet the dog. It had to belong to someone as it had a collar with a tag on it but Harry didn't remember ever seeing a dog like this in the neighborhood.

 _"Hiya Harry!_ " A man's voice said in Harry head. Harry's mouth dropped open in shock.

"W-what? D-did you just…" he started to say but couldn't believe it. Dogs didn't talk… did they?

 _"It worked? Great!"_ The dog said with an excited wiggle. _"I know the girls said it would work but good to know anyway. The name's Zack."_ The dog, Zack, held up a paw for Harry to shake. Harry, feeling very silly, took the paw in his hand and shook it.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't understand," Harry said as he dropped the paw. "How are you talking Mr. Zack?"

 _"Just call me Zack, none of that Mister stuff,"_ Zack said in Harry's mind. _"I'm your new best buddy and bodyguard. Your mom sent me to you."_

"My mom? But… she's dead. She and my dad died in a car crash when I was a baby," Harry said confused.

 _"Car crash?"_ Zack asked in equal confusion, his head tilted to the side.

"Well… yeah. That's what my aunt and uncle told me. My dad was a drunk and crashed the car, killing him and my Mum but I survived," Harry said.

 _"That's not how your mom told it,"_ Zack said. _"According to her, she and your dad were killed."_

"Are… are you sure you got the right Harry then?" Harry asked.

 _"Yeah I'm sure, otherwise you wouldn't be able to hear me kiddo,"_ Zack said. _"Sounds like to me your aunt told you a fib and the way your mom talked about your aunt, that wouldn't really surprise me."_

"Wouldn't surprise me either," Harry muttered. Somehow the idea that his aunt and uncle lied about how his parents died wasn't really all that surprising, after all Petunia made it no secret that she had hated her younger sister. Harry then gave Zack a look and crossed his arms over his chest. "No offence but how do I know that _you're_ telling me the truth. My mum is dead but you just said you spoke to her."

 _"Guess I should start at the beginning huh. See, I'm from another world,"_ Zack started to explain, his hind leg coming up to scratch behind his right ear. Harry's mouth dropped open.

"You're an alien?" He whispered. Maybe that was why he could hear Zack, he was a alien from another planet. "Do you have a space ship?" He asked eagerly, maybe he could convince Zack to take him away from Earth and his horrible relatives. "Is your planet one of talking dogs?"

 _"What?"_ Zack asked just as confused. _"Well… I guess I am sorta an alien since I'm not from your world but I didn't come here in a space ship or anything… and the only animals that I know that can talk are those cat-wolf guys. No my world, we just call it the Planet, has humans too and I used to be a human. See I died about 2 to 3 years ago, I was fighting what seemed like the whole Shinra army and they wore me down until they could take me out. After that I was in the Lifestream, that's where the souls of the dead go back home."_

Harry's green eyes were wide, Zack had to fight a whole army? By himself? He wondered what 'Shinra' was, Zack sounded very bitter when he 'said' the name.

 _"Anyway, so there I am bored out of my mind, being dead isn't any fun kid by the way, when your mom showed up. Pretty lady by the way. She was with my girlfriend Aerith and was looking for someone to come back and protect her kid because she was_ very _unhappy with the way he was living,"_ Zack said. _"I didn't like anything of the things Lily was saying-"_

"Lily?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

 _"Yeah. Oh, that's your mom's name, Lily. She called your dad James,"_ Zack said.

"Lily… and James…" Harry repeated softly to himself. He had never known his parents names."What… what did my mum look like?" Zack blinked then realized that Harry knew zilch about his parents.

 _"Well, she was very pretty. She had long hair that was a very deep shade of red,"_ Zack said then stood closer to Harry until their noses were touching. Harry blinked in surprise at the sudden closeness and noticed that Zack's purplish tinted blue eyes had a ring of green around the iris and he would swear the eyes were _glowing. "Yep, you got her eyes kiddo. They are the exact shade of green. You kinda got a few of her facial features too, like her nose. But I'm gonna guess the rest of your looks belong to your dad."_

Harry sat there in wonder as he tried to imagine what his parents looked like. He had never seen a picture of them, his aunt had gotten rid of or cut out his mother from any pictures she had of her. He was giddy to know that he had his Mum's eyes and his Dad's looks.

"So what happen then?" Harry said, curious to know what happen. "You said my Mum was killed didn't you? Not killed in a car crash?"

 _"That's how your mom told it. She said some guy with a really weird name, Voldie-something. Damn, you think I would remember since it's almost as weird sounding as Sephiroth,"_ Zack said with a doggy scowl. _"Anyway she said some dark wizard dude named Voldie-"_

"Wizard?" Harry said. "Like… magic?"

 _"Well yeah. Your mom said she was a witch and said boy witches are called wizards,"_ Zack explained.

"But… magic isn't real…" Harry said, a tone in his voice that said he didn't quite believe that himself.

 _"You're talking to a human in a dog's body that's from another world kid,"_ Zack pointed out. _"It was magic that sent me here. And I bet you got magic too."_ Harry thought on it… it would explain a lot of stuff that happened to him over the years like his hair growing back overnight or that ugly sweater shrinking down to the point where he couldn't wear it…. and then there was the thing with all the lights blowing up this morning when he got upset….

"Maybe you're right…" He said softly. "Ok, continue. I didn't mean to interrupt."

 _"It's fine kid. You can ask any question you want,"_ Zack assured him. _"Anyway, your mom said this Voldie guy killed her and your dad then he tried to kill you but couldn't cause of some sort of spell your mom put on you. One that kept you protected. Let me tell you, she's livid that you're living with your aunt."_

"Why was I left with her then?" Harry asked. Zack should his head, the sword shaped tag on his collar jingling.

 _"She said the headmaster, Dumble something, at her old school is the one that put you with your aunt, she never, ever wanted you to live with her. But that spell that she put on you, Dumbles thought that you needed to live with a blood relative to keep it going so he ignored her and your dad's wills. But according to Lily, the spell was never blood based but based on love. She had a whole list of people you were suppose to live with but Dumbles ignored her wishes,"_ the former SOILDER explained. Harry sat there in open mouth shock.

"I could have lived with someone who would at least care for me?" he said in a small voice. He really didn't like this Dumbles person for putting him with his relatives.

 _"So your mom finally got tired of seeing you treated like crap and asked for help. She and Aerith asked if I come and watch over you and bam here I am,"_ Zack said with another doggy grin, his tongue hanging out. _"Of course there were some draws backs like this body, cause my world and your world is so far apart, a dog was the best body they could give me."_

"Oh… sorry?" Harry said uncertainly.

 _"Hey, it's alright. It's not like I haven't done something similar like this, I returned to the alive world once as a wolf but it was only for a little bit. Plus my mentor use to call me puppy all the time,"_ Zack assured him. _"And Aerith thinks I can go human again when I need to protect you, but it's not a permanent thing. So your mom and my girl used their magics to send me here. They sorta made me your familiar or something, that's how I'm able to speak to you. So me and you are gonna be best buds for now on."_

"So my wish did come true…" Harry whispered in awe.

 _"Hmm, wish?"_ Zack asked. Harry blushed slightly.

"Today is my birthday, I…umm… sorta kinda wished for a friend," he admitted.

 _"Happy birthday then! How old did you turn?"_ Zack asked.

"I'm ten," Harry said.

 _"Ten!?"_ Zack yelped in surprise, barking out loud.

"Is… is that a problem?" Harry asked worried.

 _"What? No of course not. I was just surprised… you look a lot younger,"_ Zack said. Harry sighed softly his shoulders slumping.

"I know, it's all thanks to my oh so 'loving' relatives care," he said bitterly. Zack snorted softly in anger.

 _"Yeah, well that's gonna stop right now. I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and let them abuse you any longer,"_ Zack said with a growl.

"How are you going to stop them?" Harry asked.

 _"Kid, look at me. I'm huge!"_ Zack said. _"Plus I'm a former SOILDER, I can be pretty intimidating when I want to be. Just tell them I'm a magic dog or something, it's kinda true after all. They don't believe me, I'll set them on fire."_ Harry snorted in laughter and grinned.

"Uncle Vernon is so fat, I bet he would burn for days," He said.

 _"That's the spirit. Oh, there was something else I needed to tell you. Your mom made sure to say that she and your dad love you,"_ Zack told Harry as he remembered Lily's parting words. Tears sprung to Harry's eyes and he felt his chest warm.

"R-really?" He asked in a small hopeful voice. When Zack nodded Harry bowed his head slightly. "Thank you… I know they're dead but it's… it's great to hear that."

 _"Hey, no problem kiddo,"_ Zack said just as softly, bumping his shoulder against Harry. They sat there in the quiet forest for a little longer, letting Harry pull himself back together. Once it looked like the kid was going to be ok, they continued their conversation. _"Ok, tell me about your family and anything else I need to know. Think of this as a debriefing for a mission."_ Harry laughed softly, Zack made it sound like they were getting ready to fight some war and he guessed in a way they were.

Harry was hesitant at first, he had it pounded into his head by his guardians to never relieve his home life after all and the couple of times he tired nothing came from it but pain. But as he went on, Harry found that he couldn't stop himself, it felt _good_ to finally get it all off his chest. He told Zack all he could about his aunt and uncle, how they had treated him over the years and how they made other adults in the area believe Harry was a delinquent. He told his new friend all about the chores he had to do every day and how every year they seem to get longer and harder. How he cooked for his family since he was big enough to stand on a chair yet got very little to eat himself.

Then Harry told Zack about Dudley, how spoiled and how much of a bully the older boy was. How he tormented Harry by making sure Harry didn't have any friends, Harry-hunting and how he was Dudley's personal punching bag. How all of Harry's clothing were hand-me-downs from his cousin except his shoes which had always been bought at the local second-hand shop. Even Harry's glasses were second hand, he had to try on several before finding a pair he could see out of for the most part.

Harry also mentioned the incidents of magic he had over the years, and now he knew that it could only be magic, and how he was punished each time. By the time Harry got to the cupboard under the stairs were he slept, Zack was growling low in his throat in anger. The elder Dursley's had easily made it to the top of his shit list right after Hojo. The youngest Dursley wasn't far behind either but he was young enough that he could change one day.

 _"Ok, all of that crap is stopping today,"_ Zack said in barely contained anger. _"No wonder your mom needed somebody to come back to help you. We're going to go to your house right now and I'm gonna make sure you are never mistreated again."_ Harry still wasn't sure if Zack would be able to help, he might have been human once but right now Zack was a dog. What could a dog do? But Harry wasn't going to argue, even if nothing came from it, at least someone finally tried to help him. It gave him more hope that he ever thought possible.

"Ok… I think Uncle Vernon is home by now. Aunt Petunia would have called him after I made the lights blow up," Harry said standing. Zack, who was pretty much a Great Dane, easily stood as tall as he did.

 _"Lead the way then kiddo,"_ Zack said. Harry gulped slightly and hoped that he wasn't about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

* * *

 _"Planet… all the houses look exactly the same! How the hell does anyone know where they live?"_ Zack said with a snort as he looked around the neighborhood. _"It's too neat around here, these people must be so bored."_ He was already thinking of all the chaos he could cause here.

"My aunt and uncle loves it, it's 'normal' to them," Harry whispered so he wouldn't be overheard.

 _"There ain't nothing normal about all this,"_ Zack said. Harry privately agreed with Zack but he didn't say it out loud. As they approached Number 4 Harry saw Vernon's current company car in the driveway and reached up to bury his hand into Zack's fur for comfort. _"Don't worry kiddo, I'll protect you."_ Harry was only a little comforted as he opened the door to the house he lived in with his so-called family.

"Boy!" A very fat man with a walrus-like mustache bellowed as soon as the door was open. The man was baring down on Harry, his face so red it looked purple. "How dare you do that freakish stuff in the house! You won't be leaving your cupboard for the rest of the summer by the time I'm done with you!" His hands were outstretched to snatch Harry and throttle the 10 year old.

 _"I don't think so fat man!"_ Zack growled in anger, leaping onto Vernon and knocking him over with a strength that came from being a SOILDER. Vernon yelled in shock as he was knocked onto his back, staring up into a set of impressive teeth that was inches from his face. And eyes that glowed with a hellish light staring into his soul.

"Vernon!" Petunia yelled when she saw the big black beast attack her husband. "Boy what did you bring into my house!?" She reached to grab Harry by the arm but stopped when Zack turned to her with those glowing eyes and sharp teeth. Petunia screeched in fear and quickly back away. In the living room Dudley ignored everyone as he tried to watch his shows on the telly. Vernon, seeing Zack's attention was on his wife, yelled and brought a fist up and clobbered Zack on the side of the head. While Zack might have been a dog now, he still had everything that had made him a first class SOILDER plus whatever else Hojo had done to him. As such, the hit didn't faze him at all as he turned his full attention back on Vernon with an angry growl.

"B-boy, get this b-beast off me!" Vernon commanded. Zack, seeing that he made his point, got off Vernon and stood by Harry's side again. "How dare you bring this thing into my house!"

"His name is Zack," Harry said as he buried his hand into Zack's fur again trying to draw comfort from the man. "And he's a magic dog that came to live with me." Both Vernon and Petunia yelped at the world 'magic'.

"There is no such thing as magic you stupid boy!" Petunia said in a hurry. Vernon grabbed a heavy vase off the table to throw at Zack and Harry.

 _"Fire!"_ Zack barked, drawing on the fire material on his collar and hitting the vase with a small fireball. Vernon bellowed again and stumbled back as the vase shattered.

"As I was saying, he's a magic dog that came to live we me," Harry repeated greatly enjoying himself. Dudley had finally given up on ignoring what was going on behind him and had turned to watch, hoping to see his parents beat Harry. " _Someone_ doesn't like the way you treat me and decided to send Zack here for my protection." Vernon and Petunia stiffened slightly, Petunia grabbed Vernon's arm.

"Vernon, they know," she hissed. " _They know!"_

 _"Good job kid, vague enough not to give away your mom and make them think they are being watched. You'd make a Turk proud,"_ Zack praised. _"I wonder who 'they' are."_ Harry just wondered what a 'Turk' was.

"B-boy! Go to your room," Vernon said in a panic. Zack growled loudly, his teeth bared once again, like hell Harry was going back into that cupboard.

"Vernon," Petunia hissed at the same time.

"I mean… blast it all, just get out of my sight! Upstairs! Both of you!" Vernon yelled.

"But I don't want to," Dudley whined.

"Now Dudley!" Vernon snapped. Dudley jerked back in surprise, stomping his feet and pouting but his parents didn't budge. Complaining loudly, Dudley stomped up the stairs to his room and slammed the door loudly. "You, boy, go… go into the guest room for now. And take that ruddy beast with you!" He pointed at the stairs.

 _"Come on Harry, we won round 1,"_ Zack said nudging Harry toward the stairs. Harry was all too happy to leave and ran up the stairs with Zack to the guest room. He grinned and hugged Zack around the neck.

"Thank you, even if nothing else comes from this, that was one of the best things I've ever seen," he said against the side of Zack's neck.

 _"Hey, I told ya I had it under control,"_ Zack said with humor, rubbing his head against Harry's side. _"I can hear them arguing down stairs. Just sit tight and I can find out what they're saying."_

"You can hear them?" Harry whispered in awe. Zack flicked an ear and gave a doggy-grin.

 _"Dog's hearing is better than a human's,"_ He pointed out then when to go sit in the hallway in front of the door, head cocked to the side as he listened. Harry turned and walked over to the bed, grinning as he sat on the oh-so comfy mattress. 100 times better than what he usually slept on.

Meanwhile Zack concentrated on the muffled voices, they must have moved to another room further into the house he mused.

"-everything Vernon," Petunia's voice hissed. "What are we going to do?"

"We could call the pound to get rid of the dog," Vernon said.

"Oh don't be naive Vernon," Petunia snapped. "Would you really set that beast on good _normal_ people? And who's to say they won't send another creature? Or maybe one of _them_ will come themselves. Oh… Vernon, what if that _thing is one of them?_ "

"What are you on about now Pet?" Vernon asked, sounding very grumpy.

"Lily, she mentioned one time while bragging about her oh-so wonderful freak world that some of her kind can turn into animals," Petunia explained. Zack could imagine that string-bean of a woman was wringing her hands in worry about right now. "Vernon, it's clear that we failed. We were able to ever stop the boy from using that freakish power of his."

"Well maybe we should just beat him harder," Vernon suggested.

 _'Yeah, I dare you try it fat man,'_ Zack thought to himself with a growl.

"Oh give it up Vernon," Petunia's voice said crossly. "We're not going to be getting anywhere near the boy with that beast here."

"We could always throw him out," Vernon suggested next, almost gleeful at the idea.

"You know that won't work," Petunia's said dryly. "We've tried to turn him out in the past and they always brought him back."

"Then what do you suggest Pet?" Vernon said in a grumpy tone.

"Well it's pretty clear that the boy will be going to that school," Petunia started to say.

"I won't have it!" Vernon yelled clearly enough for everyone in the house to ear. And likely people outside of the house as well.

"We won't have a choice Vernon!" Petunia hissed in anger again. "I'm not any happier about it than you are but as I already said it's clear that we failed in making the boy normal. We only have to put up with him for one more year and then he's off to that school. And maybe if we're lucky that will be the last we see of him and if we're not, at least we won't have to deal with the little freak for 10 months out of the year."

"Well that's fine and good Petunia, but what are we going to do the rest of _this_ year?" Vernon asked snidely.

"Well with _them_ watching us, we can't keep going like we have. We'll have to move the boy out of the cupboard at the very least," Petunia said with a huffing sigh. "He was getting to big for it anyway."

"We could always make him sleep in the shed," Vernon suggested. It was quiet for a couple of moments then Vernon groaned. "Alright fine, the boy can have Dudley's second room."

 _'Second room?'_ Zack thought in disbelief.

"But… Dudders…." Petunia said. "You know he needs that room Vernon."

"Well I'm not giving that boy the guest room!" Vernon thundered. Zack heard Petunia sigh in defeat.

"Alright fine, I'll have the boy clean it out tomorrow. I have no desire to deal with him or that creature tonight," Petunia said. "All of Dudley's things can go up into the attic I suppose…"

"Good, now that that's dealt with," Vernon said in a final tone. Zack didn't know how final, they won the battle but Zack felt it was still going to be a war to get the Dursley's in line. "What's for supper?"

"Oh dear… I haven't started anything…" Petunia's voice said in worry. "We could eat out, treat Dudley when we tell him about his second room. It should ease him a little."

"Fine," Vernon said. "Dudley! Come on son! We're going out to eat!"

Zack quickly backed into the guest room and watched Dudley quickly waddle down the hallway, bellowing places that he wanted to go eat at. Soon the front door could be heard opening and closing, then a car leaving the driveway.

 _"Wow, you're aunt and uncle are real pieces of work,"_ Zack said as he turned to Harry. Harry was laid out on the bed, clearly enjoying their hard won prize for the night.

"What did you hear?" Harry asked as he sat up. Zack jumped up onto the bed next to Harry and flopped down on it, making the bed bounce from his large size.

 _"Well, they kept mentioning a 'them' and calling someone 'freaks', I'm going to hazard a guess and say they mean people like you. Witches and wizards,"_ Zack said as he laid his head on his paws. _"They know that you have magic and been trying to make you 'normal' for years but your aunt thinks that they should give up on that. They also think I was sent here by the magic folk. Kinda true since it was your mom that started it."_

"So… they've always known why all that strange stuff happen to me," Harry said mulling over the fact. He was very miffed by it, he had gotten in trouble for years for things he could never explain or help and his aunt and uncle had always known!

 _"Sounds like it,"_ Zack agreed. _"Bean pole also mentioned a school. I guess it's the same school your mom said she went to."_ Harry snickered as Zack called Petunia 'Bean pole'.

"A school of magic… wow…" Harry whispered. "So, what else?"

 _"Well since they think the witches are watching them now, your aunt and uncle decided you won't be in the cupboard anymore. They said something about your cousin's second bedroom?"_ Zack lifted his head and gave his a quizzical look.

"It's the smallest bedroom in the house, Dudley puts all the things he doesn't want or things he's broken over the years in there. He doesn't allow anything to be thrown out, yet nothing to do with the stuff once it's put in there," Harry explained. "I don't mind being put in there, at least it's not the cupboard."

 _"Sounds like your cousin has a hoarding problem on top of being spoiled,"_ Zack said in amusement. _"Why not in here? I bet I could force them to let you have this room instead."_

Harry shook his head as he said, "no, it's fine. Besides, it smells like Ripper in here."

 _"Ripper?"_ Zack questioned.

"Aunt Marge's bull dog," Harry explained. "Not my real aunt of course, she's Vernon's sister but I'm forced to call her that. She breeds English Bulldogs and has one called Ripper. Real brute he is, he chased me up a tree one time with Marge and Vernon egging him on. I was up there for hours. Marge always brings him when she comes over to stay, he uses the bathroom all over the room here."

 _"Huh… so that what that smell is,"_ Zack said. _"Well kiddo, if you're fine with the little bedroom…"_

"I am," Harry assured him then blushed as his stomach growled in hunger.

 _"Heh, I agree with ya. Come on, let's get something to eat,"_ Zack said with huff of laughter.

"I-I'll get in trouble if I take food," Harry said worriedly as he followed Zack downstairs.

 _"You have just as much right to eat as those pigs do,"_ Zack pointed out. _"If they say anything, I'll set them straight. Don't worry."_

"I'm sorry, I know I'm being silly," Harry said with a sigh as he started to put together a sandwich to eat. He couldn't have anything heavy; he wasn't use to eating much after all. "I… I'm just not use to anyone watching out for me."

 _"Don't worry about Harry,"_ Zack said, snapping the pieces of meat Harry tossed him out of mid air. _"We're a team now, I'll do my damn best to make sure you're taken care of now. And the way Bean pole was talking, we'll be at this magic school next year and you won't have to worry about them at all."_

"That would be nice," Harry agreed as he put some water in a bowl for Zack and poured him a glass of milk, feeling giddy that he got to drink milk and have a good sandwich for once. "Hey Zack, you said my Mum and Dad had a will right? Do you think we could find out who they wanted me to live with? Maybe contact them?"

 _"We can try but I honestly don't know where to even start looking,"_ Zack said. _"I honestly didn't get much information for your mom before I jumped into this with both feet. I should have waited a little longer but… well after hearing that you were abused, I couldn't just wait around. All I do know is that this Voldie guy was trying to take over the world."_

"Well I'm glad you did then," Harry said softly. "Who knows what my aunt and uncle would have done to me today if you hadn't been here to stop them." Zack panted happily then stood, shaking out his fur.

 _"Well that's enough depressing stuff. Come on let's watch TV, I want to see what sorta shows you got on this world,"_ Zack suggested. Harry grinned and followed after cleaning up the kitchen, he never got to watch the telly.

* * *

Harry and Zack watched many different programs until Harry started yawning his head off. Zack guided the sleepy boy back upstairs where he used the bathroom then fell into the guest bed sleeping. Zack shut the door with a foot and lay on the bed next to Harry. But he didn't sleep, he didn't trust Harry's uncle enough for Vernon not to try something. He heard the Dursleys return home some time later and bustle around the house, acting as if there wasn't a fourth person who lived here. Soon Zack heard Harry's cousin going back to his room then much later his aunt and uncle coming upstairs.

When the bedroom door open, Zack looked up and stared in Vernon's direction. He knew he looked eerie with his mako glowing eyes, giving the fat man an full showing of his teeth as his lips pulled back. Vernon showed he was smarter than he looked and quickly closed the door, hurrying down the hallway.

 _'Idiot,'_ Zack thought with a soft snort.

Much later, after the sounds of snoring came from the other rooms in the house, Zack hopped off the bed and pulled the door open with his teeth. He already knew what door was the bathroom so he passed right on by it. He paused at one door, his nosed wrinkled the smell of soiled food came out. He could also small Dudley and assumed it was the cousin's bedroom.

The next door had someone snoring so loudly on the other side and smell like the fat man and bean pole, Zack marked it as the master bedroom.

That left the last door in the hallway. Zack carefully turned the knob with his teeth and pushed the door open. The room on the other side was a complete and utter mess. There were broken toys, books and other things just thrown everywhere. Some items, Zack noticed, wasn't that bad off but these looked like they were mostly books and other things a spoiled little brat like Dudley would want nothing of.

Zack did notice something else about the room, there was a small twin bed, a desk with a chair and a wardrobe in the room. Not the best looking bunch of furniture but still, it was there.

 _'Buy why though? Did they originally mean to put Harry in here from the start then change their minds?'_ Zack asked himself. He didn't see any other reason to buy bedroom stuff, not unless they meant to turn this room into a second guest room but Zack doubted that. All the furniture he had seen so far in the house was good quality, he would know since his dad was a carpenter. Zack had never had any skill for it himself; if he had the carts he built for Aerith would have been a hell of a lot better.

But the stuff here in this room was piss poor, more like something he would have seen in the slums under Midgar's plates. So unless they had meant to put Harry in here, why bother?

 _'Well, it could be because they are evil and soulless pricks,'_ Zack thought with a snort as he closed the door back and went back to Harry's side. It wasn't great stuff but with what Harry already told him, it was better than what he already had. _'I've got to get Harry out of this place. This is no way for a sweet kid like him to grow up.'_ With a sigh, Zack laid back on the bed next to Harry and fell into a light sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

Author note: Wow, I am so glad you guys liked story idea so much.

My best buddy Asilyessam has betaed this chapter for me.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Zack and Harry were both knocked out of their sleep by a sharp knock on the door.

"Up boy!" Petunia called sharply on the other side. "I'll not let you skirt your cooking duties. My Diddums needs breakfast." Then Zack could hear her walking away down the stairs.

 _"Gee, is she always this cheerful in the morning?"_ He asked Harry as he stretched out his front paws in front of him and his hind end rose in the air as his back bowed.

"That's her on a good day," Harry admitted as he stretched as well. He was thrilled to pieces when he woke up in the guest room with Zack sleeping next to him on the bed, which meant the day before _hadn't_ been a dream. "Come on, I can't keep her waiting."

 _"You don't have to cook if you don't want to. I can always give them another show of my fangs and scare them,"_ Zack offered as he hopped off the bed and shook himself.

"No, that's alright. I actually don't mind cooking," Harry said as he finger combed his hair, trying to get the wild nest of hair to lie down. "I just don't like not getting to have any."

 _"Well_ that _is gonna stop for sure. If you're ok with cooking then I won't stop you kiddo but you are going to make enough for you too… and me hopefully,"_ Zack added with a doggy grin. _"I'm starving."_ Harry laughed and opened the door, Zack walking by his side down to the kitchen. On the way into the kitchen Zack took the time to fully take in his surroundings, he hadn't bothered the night before as he had been more concerned about Harry.

The house was… freakishly neat. His Ma kept a clean house as did Angeal when Zack was his student, but _never_ this clean. There was very little personality in the house, like the Dursleys placed pretty things in it that were expensive or just looked expensive to show off. There were also many, many photos of Harry's cousin on the wall and damn that kid had been fat all his life! Zack was also not surprised to see no photos of all of Harry. In fact, he didn't see anything that would make it look like two children lived here. He couldn't believe someone hated a child just that much.

In the kitchen, it was just as neat and freakishly tidy as the rest of the house. Vernon was sitting at the table, the chair groaning under the fat man's weight and legs looking like they were starting to bend a little. He had a news paper held up in front of his face, gripping the paper so tightly his knuckles were white. Petunia stood next to the stove with her arms crossed, glaring down at Harry as the boy started making breakfast. Zack gave a meaningful huff at her making her start and quickly back away.

"J-just hurry up boy," She said then hurried over to the table to pour fat man some more coffee. Zack sat down and watched both the adults to make sure they didn't make any moves toward Harry and watched Harry as he cooked.

 _"Wow, do they really eat that much?"_ Zack asked in shock as Harry made eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes, made a pan of baked beans, and fired some bread with butter, sausages and plenty of all of it. Harry just nodded a little and Zack realized he could have answered his own question, Vernon and Dudley were very fat after all. Speaking of Butterball, as Zack decided to nickname him, a loud pounding sound came down the stairs and the youngest Dursley came into the kitchen.

"Mum, I'm hungry," Dudley said as he sat down at the table, the chair groaning in protest.

"Breakfast is almost ready popkins," Petunia cooed to her son.

"But I want to eat now," Dudley whined. "Hurry up freak!"

Zack growled lowly catching everyone's attention.

"N-now Diddums, I think you should s-stop using that word," Petunia said in worry.

"Oh… the dog is still here?" Dudley asked while squinting his piggy eyes at Zack. "Dad, why does the freak get the dog? I want a dog. Make him give me the dog."

"Now son," Vernon said though clenched teeth, "you don't want a raggedy mutt like that."

"Yes I do!" Dudley whined again, the dog was huge! Dudley could already see all the little kids he could threaten with that dog to hand over their pocket money and sweets.

"No Dudley," Vernon said. "If you really want a dog we can get one of Marge's bulldogs." Zack was amused to see the dismayed look on Petunia's face at the suggestion. Luckily at that point Harry appeared with plates of food, placing them on the table for the others then going over to the counter where two other plates, one with a much smaller, normal amount of food and one of bacon and sausages. Harry put the plate of meat on the floor for Zack and took the other plate for himself. "Boy! What do you think you are doing!?"

Harry froze with the fork half way to his mouth; Vernon's face was purple with rage. Zack was already on his feet and standing protectively in front of Harry with his hackles raised. This made Vernon pause, remembering how Zack easily overpowered him the night before.

"Vernon," Petunia hissed in warning as she grabbed her husband's arm. She wasn't happy about it either, she had already put out the boy's breakfast of stale bread and old cheese but the dog wasn't having any of it. Vernon breathed heavily and stood up from the table.

"I'm heading to work," he said through gritted teeth, he could not deal with the boy or that dog right now. Zack's glowing eyes followed his every movement as Vernon grabbed his coat and hat then grabbed his keys on the way out the door, slamming it shut. Harry had in the meantime started eating again, assured by Zack's actions that he would keep his aunt and uncle from taking the food away. Dudley was just disappointed that his father hadn't punished the freak.

"Once you and that thing are finished eating, you are to start cleaning out the second bedroom," Petunia said. "Just box everything up and place it in the attic."

"Muuummm, I don't want him to have my second bedroom. I need that room," Dudley whined loudly.

"Dinky Duddydums," Petunia said through clenched teeth of her own. "We talked about this last time remember?"

 _"Damn, how many nicknames does she have for him?"_ Zack asked as he started eating again, quickly polishing off his plate. Harry also finished eating and was taking their plates to the sink to wash. Dudley just whined again and pouted.

"Mummy will take you to the store today and you can buy anything you want," Petunia promised. Dudley instantly perked up.

"Alright I guess," he said then started to shovel the rest of the food left on the table into his mouth. Petunia relaxed as a temper tantrum was adverted for now.

"When you are done with the room, you and the beast are to get out of the house," Petunia said. "Don't come back until this evening." _'Or at all,'_ she thought to herself but didn't say out loud.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry said as he started cleaning off the table. Dudley hopped up and headed for the stairs, attempting to trip Harry on the way but Harry nimbly avoided his cousin. Soon Harry and Zack could hear Harry's aunt and cousin leaving the house and the garage door opening outside where Petunia had her little fancy car kept.

 _"Your relatives suck,"_ Zack said as Harry cleaned, helping out by licking the plates clean. _"How are those chairs holding your uncle and cousin up!?"_

"They end up getting replaced at least once a year. Of course, if the chairs get broken and have to be replaced, Aunt Petunia insists on the whole thing being replaced and the remaining table and chairs are usually sent to the dump," Harry explained as he finished up.

 _"Your aunt is one of those people who like to show off, huh,"_ Zack mused.

"Yeah, her and Uncle Vernon," Harry agreed. "Zack, thank you. This so far has been the best two days of my life."

 _"Well it's not over yet, I still got some other things I think need to be done…. I just need to figure out how,"_ Zack said with a doggy grin. _"But still, you're welcome Kiddo."_ Harry just smiled, he liked being called 'kiddo', it was a million times better than 'freak' or 'boy', and Zack said it with affection that was real.

* * *

The room, Zack decided, was many times worse in the day than it had been at night.

 _"Why does your aunt let your cousin get away with this if she's such a neat freak?"_ he asked as he pawed one of the broken toys on the floor.

"Aunt Petunia would do anything to make Dudley happy," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Even let him keep old or broken toys he won't ever touch again."

 _"Ugh, you're cousin is spoiled worse that the little Shinra prince was,"_ Zack said with a snort. Harry sighed as he looked at the mess then started piling things into the trash bags he had brought with him. _"Hey, I got an idea. A lot of this stuff is pure trash but there is some nice stuff still in here. Why don't you just keep it?"_

"I would get into so much trouble if I did that," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Uncle Vernon would beat me if he thought I was stealing from Dudley."

 _"It's not stealing since it's pretty clear he doesn't want any of this stuff,"_ Zack pointed out. _"Seems like a waste to just stick the good stuff in the attic."_

"Yeah…." Harry agreed slowly. He saw many books he wouldn't mind having, he liked reading, and even a couple of art sets that were either barely used or hadn't been used at all. "Well… maybe if I find a good place to hide it… maybe I can keep a couple of things…"

 _"That's the spirit,"_ Zack said with a happy pant. Harry quickly set aside a few fantasy books that looked interesting, Harry was shocked his guardians even let them stay in the house with how anti-magic they were, and stuffed more broken toys into the bag.

"Hey Zack… can I ask a question?" Harry asked after a few minutes of working.

 _"Ask away,"_ Zack said as he nosed thought the junk trying to separate the good stuff from the bad.

"What is 'Shinra'?" The boy asked. "And that other stuff you mentioned, soldier and turk?"

 _"Well Shinra is this company from my world, an electric company. But they weren't always that, they use to be a weapons manufacturer a long time ago but then somebody in the company figured out how to use Mako as an energy source. Mako is sorta a physical form of the Lifestream, in liquid form,"_ Zack quickly explained at Harry's confused look. _"And don't let that fool you, they still made weapons when I worked for them. They pretty much ruled the world."_

"And no one stopped them?" Harry asked.

 _"Most people were afraid of Shinra,"_ Zack said. _"They did have some enemies, like Wutai and AVALANCHE mostly, but no one bothered. Shinra also made vehicles and all sorts of other stuff on top of weapons. Shinra also had their own army, plus the Turks and SOLDIER. Now the Turks, which is sorta a nickname for the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, were the guys who did all the dirty works for the president of Shinra."_

"Like MI6?" Harry asked. "James Bond?"

 _"No idea what those are kiddo,"_ Zack pointed out.

"Spies?" Harry tired again.

 _"I guess spies is sorta close to some of what the Turks did,"_ Zack said. _"Now SOLDIER, and that's all capital letters, well that's something different. See somebody discovered Mako could be used to make super humans, so they started the SOLDIER program. There are three classes of SOLDIER, 1st through 3rd, and we did a lot of the heavy fighting that the army couldn't. The Mako gives us greater strength, let us heal faster, greater senses and gives our eyes that cool glowy look."_

"And which class were you?" Harry tied off one bag of junk and started another.

 _"I made it all the way to 1st class, one of the very few who did. They only let the very, very best be 1st class,"_ Zack said. _"Honestly, while I proud when it happen, it was a lifelong dream of mine, I'm ashamed of what I did while working for Shinra. Between us, the Turks, and the army, we're the reason why people were afraid. Not a good feeling. The longer I was with Shinra, the more I found out how much of a dirty rat it was."_

"That sounds horrible," Harry said.

 _"Ugh it was. They were not above kidnapping, murder, experimenting on people, cover ups, the list goes on. But the Shinra company was very good at painting itself in a good light or people were just too afraid to say anything,"_ Zack said as he nosed another pile of stuff. He yelped as the pile fell over and jumped out of the way. A discard birthday card slid out of an envelope whose glue had worn off a long time ago, something falling out of the card. _"What's that?"_

Harry walked over and picked up the items, his eyes wide.

"It's money," he whispered.

 _"That's money?"_ Zack asked it didn't look anything like Gil. _"Ohhh, like birthday money? I use to get that sometimes from my relatives when I was a kid."_

"Dudley never opens his cards, I had no idea that there was money in them," Harry said as he counted out the amount.

 _"Really?"_ Zack perked up and gave the room another look around. _"Think that there are others cards in here?"_

"Maybe, why?" Harry asked. Zack didn't answer right away, his mind was busy running with different ideas. One of the things he had wanted to fix for Harry was the clothing situation. Second-hand clothing was fine, it wasn't something Zack had a problem with. In fact everything he wore as a kid, baring his boxers and socks, had been either made by his Ma or had belonged to someone else at one time. His village hadn't been big, it was a place where everyone knew pretty much everyone else. So it wasn't at all unusual for clothing to be passed around from family member to family member or neighbor to neighbor until it was just too worn out to be used anymore. Then the tattered remains would be used as a dust cloth.

What Harry wore, on the other hand, was not acceptable. Second hand clothing was one thing, if it was in good shape and would fit, but what Harry wore was not only too big for him, it looked like it had seen better days. But Zack hadn't quite figured out just how he was going to get Harry in something that was acceptable to wear. It wasn't as if he could just tell Petunia or Vernon that they were going to buy Harry better stuff, Harry was the only one that could hear him!

 _"I think…. We should take all the money we find in here and use it to buy you clothing that fits,"_ Zack said at last.

"Zack… isn't that stealing?" Harry whispered with wide green eyes.

 _"I don't consider it stealing. Your cousin just tossed the stuff in here like it was trash. After that, I think it's fair game to anyone,"_ Zack pointed out. _"And what they don't know won't hurt them."_

"Hmmm… I guess…" Harry said looking down at the pounds in his hands. He really would like clothing that fit for once, he never wore anything but Dudley's castoffs for a long as he could remember. "But Zack, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon will notice if I got new stuff and will ask where I got the money."

 _"Those two piles of chocobo shit should have done this on their own. You don't own them an explanation Harry and if they try to touch you, I'll kill them. Or at least maim them a little. They don't scare me Kiddo, nothing scares me except Sephiroth on a rampage, my Ma wielding a spoon and Angeal giving an 'honor' talk,"_ Zack said. _"Just leave them to me, I'm going to make sure you are taken care of. That's what your mom wanted and that's what I want. Just trust me ok?"_

"Ok," Harry said. It was trilling to have someone care for him and made good things happen to him for once. Would it last? He didn't know but he was soaking up the feelings of being cared for and loved for once. Harry stuffed the money in his pocket and got back to cleaning out the room. Every time they came across a discarded card, Harry would open it to check for money and take any that was there. He soon had a tidy small sum. Not huge by any means but still it was more money than Harry ever had and he hoped they could buy something with it.

After a couple of hours, Harry soon had the room as clean as it was going to get. He hid the stuff he selected for himself in the wardrobe then took the rest of the bags up into the attic with Zack's help.

* * *

There was something… different… about the wards around #4 Privet Drive but for the life of him Albus Dumbledore couldn't quite put his finger on to what it was. It wasn't as if they had gone down, and they were the same strength they had been for the last few years, which while not as strong as they had been when he first placed young Harry Potter in his relatives care, were strong enough to still work against Voldemort. Still something had changed in some way.

Albus was sure it started the day before, Harry's 10th birthday if he wasn't mistaken. His twinkly blue eyes lost focus for a moment as he dove down memory lane, it was hard to believe that Harry was one year away from rejoining the Wizarding world and coming to Hogwarts at last. He wondered if the boy still looked like his father James or if Lily's looks had started to come out in the boy. The shift in the wards couldn't have anything to do with Harry turning a year older, they hadn't reacted at all the previous years.

 _'I should have someone go check on the lad,'_ Albus thought to himself as he absently took a lemon drop from the candy dish on his desk and popped the sour treat in his mouth. _'I am too busy myself to go with the ICW meeting coming up, I need to prepare for that. Who shoulder I send? Minerva…. No, she was against me placing Harry with the Dursley's to start with, she may try to find an excuse to take Harry away from them.'_

So his Deputy Headmistress was out. Pomona? No, she wouldn't work either, she was out of the country looking into getting some seeds and cuttings of rare plants for the school and her lessons. Filius… no he wouldn't work either, he was visiting his family and Albus didn't want to take his old friend away from that. Dear Hagrid was a possibility… no no as kind as the half giant was and as much as Albus trusted the man, Hagrid was not subtle at all. And this would need a certain agree of subtlety so that left only one person whom Albus could trust…. But he wasn't going to be happy about it….

"You want me to what?" Severus Snape as sometime later after Albus had contacted him and asked him to join him at his office at Hogwarts. "I must have heard you wrong, but I thought you said you would like me to go check on Potter."

"Severus would you please let me finish," Albus said kindly yet firmly. Severus scowled but motioned for his boss to continue. "Yesterday something… shifted… in the wards that protect young Harry. I have been unable to find the cause from this end. All I want you to do check on Mr. Potter and see if you can find the cause in the shift."

"Why me?" Severus said with what was not a pout, nope no pout here. "Why not McGonagall? Or either Sprout or Flitwick?"

"Minerva is busy with school related business on top of finding time to visit with her nieces and nephews," Albus said. "Pomona is out of the country and Filius is currently spending time with his own family. You are the last one left whom I can trust with this. It is not like you will have to interact with young Harry, just make sure he is not in any danger. It wouldn't do for Voldemort's followers to have found out where Harry has been all these years after all and you did promise to protect the child."

Severus groaned softly, he just _knew_ that promise was going to bite him in the arse one day. He really didn't want to go see the child of the woman he loved and his hated rival. It was bad enough he was going to be teaching the spoiled brat for 7 years starting the next year.

"Alright fine," he said at last as he stood. "I will go check on your precious golden boy. But I think it is a waste of time. Where is the boy living?"

"Take the Floo to Mrs. Figg house, she will be able to tell you where young Mr. Potter lives," Albus said as he stood and walked over to his fireplace, throwing a pinch of floo power within. "Aravella dear, I have something about to floo over, if you could help him I would be most grateful."

"Yes yes, send them on their way," a woman's voice side from the other side of the fire.

"I doubt I shall be long," Severus said before stepping into the green flames and letting it sweep him along. On the other end Severus stepped out of the fireplace at Mrs. Figg's house and the first thing Severus saw was many many cats as they came to investigate this new person in their home.

"Go on now, shoo," An older woman said, waving her hands to get her cats to move. "Ahh, what can I help you with dear?"

"I am here to check on Potter, if you can tell me where he is living?" Severus said.

"Ah, someone is finally listening to me?" Figg asked with a huff. "I've told Albus again and again those people are no good for the poor child. That screw of a woman, Petunia, always yelling at the boy."

 _'Petunia?'_ Severus thought startled though he didn't show it outwardly. He hadn't heard that name in many years, Lily's son was living with that jealous bint? That… surprised him. What in the world made Dumbledore think Petunia was a good choice for any child to live with? Unless she changed in the years since he last saw her, which he doubted very much. Still, he wondered what Potter had done to anger his aunt, more than likely he had back talked her or threw a fit over not receiving one treat or the other….

"Madame, the address if you please?" Severus asked out loud.

"What?" Mrs. Figg blinked startled for a second. "Oh, yes yes. Just two streets over, Privet Drive. Number 4." Severus nodded and headed for the front door. He took a moment to transfigure his clothing into some more muggle looking, a pair of black slacks and a black turtle neck with an added cooling charm to keep himself from becoming over heated. He also quickly cast a Notice-me-not charm on himself so he wouldn't be bothered as he checked on Potter. Prepared as he was going to get Severus opened the door and walked away.

Following Mrs. Figg's directions, Severus quickly walked the two streets over to Privet Drive. He sneered as he looked around; all the houses looked the same. How utterly boring and how utterly like Petunia to live in a place like that. He quickly counted the numbers on the houses until he found number four, standing in front of the house across the street. He wondered how long he would have to stand staring at the house before Potter or any of his family came out.

While waiting he quickly noticed a young boy standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. The thing was sickly looking wearing raggedy looking clothing that was much too big. He could see one bony shoulder sticking out of the neck hole of the shirt. Standing next to the boy was a very large Great Dane with black fur and a white marking on its cheek. The boy was tying a rope to its collar like a make shift leash. As if sensing that they were being watched, both the boy and the dog turned in his direction. Severus's mouth nearly dropped open as he found himself looking into Lily's eyes and his own dark eyes quickly darted up to boy's forehead where a lightning bolt scar rested.

* * *

After they had finished putting all the bags of Dudley's things in the attic, Harry headed down to his old cupboard under the stairs with Zack on his heels.

 _"I can't believe someone is that cruel to make anyone live in this tiny ass closet!"_ Zack snorted in anger as he watched Harry gather his few belongings. The cupboard was tiny, it had a thin mattress on the floor that didn't look comfortable at all with a thin blanket on top. Zack could see spider webs in the corners and one even had a spider sitting in the middle of it. He had no clue what sort of spiders they were as he was unfamiliar with the spiders of Earth he just hoped those things weren't poisonous. He also noticed that the only light source was one bare blub.

Zack watched as Harry took out a few more of the oversized rags the Dursley's had given him, took a few drawings off the wall, and took out a small box of crayons and a couple of broken toy soldiers.

 _"Are those the only toys you have?"_ Zack asked with a doggy frown on his face.

"Yeah, these are Dudley's old toys. I managed to sneak them away before they could be tossed into Dudley's second room," Harry said then held up the crayons with a smile. "These were given to me by the lady at the library, it's one of the few places I can hide from Dudley and his gang." Zack's heart broke at how proud Harry was at the small box of crayons, they were likely the nicest and possibly the only new thing the boy had ever gotten. Harry finished gather his stuff and took it up to the smallest room in the house, laying it all on the bed. "So where are we going to go to look for new stuff for me to wear."

 _"Well first… when is the last time you had a bath?"_ Zack asked as he sniffed Harry. _"No offence kid but you reek."_

"I usually get a quick shower about once a week. More during the school year, Uncle Vernon doesn't like me wasting water. And he doesn't like me using the hot water," Harry said embarrassed. Zack snorted softly.

 _"Well you are getting a decent shower or bath kiddo. With hot water. Those planet-damned people aren't here right now and I'm not gonna let you freeze just to get washed up,"_ Zack said then gently pushed Harry toward the bathroom. _"Come on, bath time!"_ Harry laughed as Zack playfully guided him along to the bath and went in. Zack went outside to sit in the hallway to give Harry some privacy. _"Remember, turn on the hot water and to wash behind your ears!"_ Harry laughed again and closed the door. Soon Zack could hear the water running on the other side and after a few minutes steam drifted out from the bottom.

Relaxing as he waited for Harry to get finished, Zack thought about the last couple of days. He didn't think he was doing too badly on taking care of Harry. The kid was sweet, that was for sure. But those Dursleys… they were rapidly getting closer to replacing Hojo as his number one person to hate list. He didn't know how he was going to keep himself from killing that fat bastard if this kept up. The skinny bitch was looking for a good bite as well. The problem was Zack didn't know how far he could push them; Vernon had barely kept himself in check.

It would just have to be something he dealt with as he came to it. Zack wished he hadn't rushed off so quickly, if he had just stayed a few more moments, if he had thought to ask Lily a few more questions…. Well it was too late now, he had to work with what he had. Not the first time he worked with so little information.

A few minutes later Zack heard the shower turn off and a few minutes after that the door opened with Harry wrapped in a towel. His skin was pink from the shower and scrubbing the boy had done and had a huge smile on his face.

 _"Feel better? I know I always did after a hot shower after training all day or coming back from missions,"_ Zack said panting happily. He had really missed hot water the year he and Cloud had been on the run from Shinra. Bathing in cold lakes or rivers sucked big time!

"Yeah," Harry said as he headed to his new living space. He dropped his dirty clothing on the floor then pulled out some clean, if still threadbare and too big, clothing to dress in. Zack quickly turned his back to let Harry dress in peace. "So where are we going to go?" the boy asked as he stuffed the money in his pocket and carried towel down to the wash room.

 _"Hmmm no clue since I'm not at all familiar with anything here,"_ Zack said. _"Just wonder around and hope for the best?"_

"Well we can't go into London, we have no way of getting there," Harry said. "At least nowhere they would let a dog in. Oh… Zack you're going to have to wear a leash, they have rules about that here. Aunt Marge complains about it each time she has to put Ripper on a leash while visiting."

 _"Oh joy. Reno would have a laughing fit if he knew about me on a leash,"_ Zack said with a roll of his eyes. _"Ok, leash it is. Where is it?"_

"Well…. We don't have one… maybe a rope tied to your collar?" Harry suggested.

 _"Can't hurt to try,"_ Zack said. Harry found some of the rope he used to keep his pants up and left the house with Zack, locking the door behind him. They stood on the sidewalk in front of the house while Harry tied the rope to Zack's collar. Harry then stiffened as did Zack, the hair raising on the back of Harry's neck. Both turned to look across the street but Harry saw nothing. After a few seconds he shrugged and turned back to tying the rope to Zack. Zack didn't look away, everything sense told him that he was being watched right now but try as he might he couldn't see anything. That was never a good thing, it was like his eyes kept skipping over just that one spot.

"I'm ready Zack," Harry said as he finished. Zack gave the space across the street one final look then walked off down the street with Harry.

* * *

 _'This is Lily's son!?'_ Severus thought in shock as he looked the boy over. _'This tiny, sickly looking boy?!'_

Severus was so glad he had a notice-me-not charm on him so no one could see the flabbergasted look on his face. Now that he knew it was Harry Potter, he could easily pick out looks the boy shared with his bully of a father, like the hair, and the ones he got from his mother, such as her eyes. Harry and the dog, Severus absently remembered that he heard the boy call it 'Zack', were walking away from him and he quickly moved to follow. His mind was conflicted on what to think, the child looked nothing like how he imagined. In his mind, he had always assumed the boy would be healthy looking with a superior look on his face that would make him look just like his blasted father.

Instead here was a child that was nothing but skin and bones swimming in clothing that was much too big for him. Lily would have a fit if she saw the state her son was in.

Severus slowed a bit as the dog stopped then turned to Harry for a moment. His eyes narrowed at the confused look on Harry's face.

"Won't I be too heavy?" Harry asked. The dog chuffed then got behind the child and slid between Harry's legs, making Harry give a soft gasp of surprise as he was suddenly riding the Great Dane like horse. Once Harry was secured on its back, the dog started running slowly down the street. Severus cursed and quickly tagged the boy and dog with a tracking spell.

That had been…. Odd…. It was as if…. Harry had heard the dog say something. Going back over his memories, Severus quickly picked out the other oddities of the dog… like its eyes. The eyes had a literal glow to him. That dog had not been a normal dog. Using the tracking spell, Severus followed after them.

* * *

Zack realized as they started off that just walking around hoping to find something was much to slow while walking. He stopped making Harry stop beside him.

 _"Hey climb on my black kiddo,"_ Zack said, he would move faster than both of them.

"Won't I be too heavy?" Harry asked confused, Zack wanted him to ride on his back like a horse?

 _"Kid, I'm willing to bet you're as light as a feather and I'm a lot stronger than I look,"_ Zack said as he moved behind Harry and pushing between his charge's legs. He heard Harry gasp and hands cling to the collar around his neck. _"Just hold on tight."_ He warned before starting off at a slow run. Another reason he wanted to get out of the area, he swore someone was watching and following them.

The further from Harry's home they got, the faster Zack went while Harry laughed in joy once he got use to riding. The streets around them changed as they explored, Harry going further than he ever had before outside of going to school.

 _"Hmmm…. That looks promising,"_ Zack said when they stopped at one street corner and spotted something down the street. In front of one of the houses somebody had set up a bunch of tables and blankets that were covered in everything from dishware to books to clothing and everything in between. Harry slid off Zack's back and held on to the rope leash as they walked over to investigate.

"Well now, aren't you a cute little thing," An older woman a little on the hefty said when she spotted the duo.

"What is all this?" Harry asked curious.

"Something I saw while on vacation in the US a couple of years ago," The woman said with a grin. "They call it a 'yard sell'. They just set up like I have and sell the stuff they don't want anymore and sell it for cheap."

"So… all this stuff is for sell?" Harry asked while Zack poked his nose into a pile of shoes.

 _"Ugh, smells worse than my gym bag,"_ Zack said as he quickly backed up.

"Sure is poppet," the woman said. "Why don't you look around, I'm sure you'll find something you like."

"Thank you," Harry said with a small blush and wondered over to the piles of clothing he had spied, Zack following him.

"Tskk… poor thing," the woman said under her breath as she watched Harry. She wondered how old he was to be out alone with just the family pet and that clothing… even if he didn't have any money, she decided she would just give him anything he found, there was plenty of stuff her son couldn't wear anymore out here than the poor child could use.

Harry slowly worked through the pile, the stuff wasn't new but it was ten times better than what he already wore. Zack also wasn't bothered by Harry picking out used stuff since he had worn hand-me downs himself growing up. Every now and then Harry would pick up a shirt and hold it against him or a pair of pants. The woman was even nice enough to let Harry go inside to try on some of the stuff he picked out first to see if it fitted.

Harry and Zack soon had shirts, long sleeve and short sleeve, picked out with a few pairs of jeans and trousers along with shorts. Harry even found a nice warm coat he could use when it started getting cold out. Harry also tried on some of the shoes, finding a pair of slightly worn but still in good condition sneakers.

When all was said and done, Harry had the start to a decent little wardrobe going for him. He even changed into one of the shirts he picked out with a pair of jeans and his new shoes.

"Have a look around some more poppet, see if there is anything else you like," The woman said with a mothering smile as she packed up Harry's new things into a couple of shopping bags. Harry almost shyly started looking over the other things in the yard sale. He wasn't used to having things just for him, the crayons and scrap sheets of paper were how he had mostly kept himself entertained while trapped in the cupboard. And now he was encouraged to find other things he could play with and he honestly didn't know what to pick out. He didn't have a lot of experience with toys after all other than watching Dudley play with and break the ones he had.

After a bit of time, and much encouragement from Zack, Harry did find a few things. He found a nice little art set that was only a little used with color pencils and a sketch book that never been drawn in except for a couple of pages. He ooed over a nice, soft leather messenger bag he found that had a Celtic knot design etched onto the front, he never seen a bag so nice.

"Ah yes, that was my grandfathers," the woman said when asked about it. "He used it all the time. I don't have much use for it and my husband and son didn't want it either. I think it looks good on you poppet." Harry blushed and hugged the nice leather bag to his chest. A few fantasy and science fiction books were added, the spines worn out from use.

 _"Hey Harry, look at this ball,"_ Zack as he pawed a football and made it roll over to Harry's foot. _"We can play with that together, what do you say?"_ Harry grinned and nodded, picking the ball up to add to his collection of new things. He thought he had a good enough pile going and was about to ask the woman how much all of it was hoping he had enough to pay for it when something else caught his eye. It was a plush red dragon that was soft to the touch under Harry's fingers. _"That's cool looking. You going to get it too? You can call it…. umm… Sir Nibbles the third!"_ Zack huffed in laugher at his own suggestion.

"I'm little too old for a stuff animal," Harry whispered embarrassed.

 _"Let me tell you a little secret kiddo,"_ Zack said. _"When I left for SOLDIER, I took my stuffed chocobo Warks-a-Lot with me. I use to sleep with him too."_

"Really?" Harry asked wondering again what the heck a 'chocobo' was.

 _"Yep. If you want that dragon get it,"_ Zack encouraged him. Harry didn't have a good childhood after all and it was clear the kid wanted the thing. Zack thought it would be good for Harry to have something to cuddle, even if he was 10 years old and most boys that age didn't play with stuffed animals anymore. Harry blushed and picked up the dragon to get as well.

"I'm not calling it Sir Nibbles the Third," he muttered. 

_"Awww, but it's a good name,"_ Zack said with a pout. Harry already had a few names flying around in his head, just not Sir Nibbles the Third.

Soon Harry and Zack were on their way, a little less money in their pocket but loaded with a few things that Harry needed or wanted. The woman _had_ ended up charging Harry even less that what she was selling the items for, she just couldn't bring herself to charge too much for the sweet young man who clearly never had a chance to have things for himself.

* * *

Severus followed the tracking spell to the same street the yard sell was on. Standing in the shadows of one house, he watched as Harry bought himself new things to wear. It was a little shocking to see the son of his hated rival going out of his way to buy _used_ clothing, Severus had always imagined that Potter would have new, expensive clothing… only to see the boy in oversized rags and _happy_ to get something that fit even if it wasn't new. _Happy_ to buy toys and books that were clearly second hand. It was…. Well it certainly broke a few ideas that Severus had about the boy and it rankled him a bit to see he was so wrong.

He had always figured Harry Potter to be spoiled by whoever had raised him, to be a pampered prince just like his father. He had seen in his mind a brat that disregarded the rules and thought himself better than everyone else. A child who had people flocking to him just because he was the Boy-who-lived and the Potter heir. The prefect little Gryffindor… Severus would admit, only to himself in his own mind, that if he had seen Harry for the first time at Hogwarts he would have allowed himself to see all that. Instead, what he saw was a boy who was obviously neglected and raised by Petunia of all people. He had seen a small child who did not even look his age only to discover afterward that this was Potter.

Severus was already letting the new information settle into his mind.

And then there was the dog. Something was off about the beast, there was no way it was just a normal dog. For one the eyes glowed as if there was a light shining behind it. And there was intelligence in those big purplish blue eyes. Intelligence that was on pair with only a few magical creatures if not humans themselves and it had been able to sense Severus even under the Notice-me-not charm. And the way the boy reacted to it, spoke to it as if he could understand the mutt. As soon as they were in one place, Severus had cast every spell he knew to reveal what the dog was. An animagus perhaps?

But no, all spells that came back all said the same thing, this was just a normal dog. So Severus cast other spells and was only a little shocked by the results. The dog was Potter's familiar…. That would put a new spin on things when the boy came to Hogwarts. A witches or warlocks familiar were to never be separated from their master or mistress, therefore there were exempt from the pet rule that only allowed a cat, owl or toad as a pet as these were the most common creatures that became familiars.

It would figure the boy would end up with an uncommon animal as a familiar, still at least it wasn't something like a dragon or some other magical creature. He still wasn't convinced the dog was just a dog, no matter what the results of the spell said, but it wasn't a griffin or anything of that nature either so it was something he could live with. Dumbledore might not be too happy about it but there would be nothing he could do.

Seeing Harry and the dog, what did the call the beast again? Zack? Were on the move again, Severus followed at a distance.

* * *

"Mum, I'm going to see my friends!" Dudley said as he headed out the door.

"Alright Dudders," Petunia said then sighed as the door closed behind her beloved son and looked at the bags of stuff her son had wanted. Her check book was a lot lighter now from buying Dudley the food and games and toys he picked out. "Boy come-" she stopped and sighed again as she remembered that she had told the wretched boy and that dog to leave the house after he was finished cleaning out the second bedroom. She would have to carry this stuff herself.

After putting the food away, Petunia grabbed the remaining bags and hauled them up the stairs and to Dudley's room. Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the sight of her baby boy's room, why must Dudley make such a mess? Oh well, she would have the boy clean it up later, under her strict watch of course, it wouldn't do for the boy to try and steal one of her Dudder's things after all. Putting the bags on the unmade bed, Petunia left the room and started toward the stairs.

She stopped outside the door to the smallest room, looking at the closed door, and then opened it. The room was spotless of course, the boy had been trained very well to clean after all. Petunia gave the shabby furniture a sneer of distaste, those had been Vernon's idea to buy. It had been a waste she had thought, why buy furniture for the room when no one would ever use it? But her Vernon, he had a mean streak in him. He wanted to rub it in the boy's face that they had a room all set up that someone could stay in yet he was kept under the cupboard. Of course, no reason to buy _good high quality_ stuff when Vernon was just making a point.

Well… she supposed it was a good thing they had this otherwise they would have had to go out a buy a bed for the boy now that he was going to be sleeping in this room.

"Bloody beast of a dog," Petunia muttered under her breath as she turned away and shut the door. She was so sure that Harry was still afraid of her and would do exactly as he was told, she never bothered to check to make sure he hadn't claimed some of Dudley's discarded things for himself.

Outside Dudley quickly waddled down the street to his friend Piers Polkiss's house. He and Piers would gather up the rest of their little gang so they could play some 'Harry Hunting', that would teach that freak for taking his second bedroom. And he would force the smaller boy to give him that dog!


	3. Chapter 3

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

My best buddy Asilyessam has betaed this chapter for me.

Chapter 3

After a bit of wandering around lost, Harry and Zack found the park where they had met the day before and found a nice secluded area to themselves. Harry put all the bags on a park bench and took out the football.

"Ready?" He asked Zack, really excited that he was getting to play with someone rather than by himself.

 _"Yeah!"_ Zack bowed playfully, his tongue hanging out as he panted in excitement and his rear end wiggling as his tail wagged. Harry laughed at the image Zack made and put the ball on the ground, giving it a solid kick that sent the ball rolling off. _"Woo hoo!"_ Zack yelled in Harry's mind while barking loudly at the same time and taking off after the ball.

Severus stayed in the shadows of the tree watching, conflicted if he should leave and report to Dumbledore, stay and watch the boy and dog a little while longer, or go give Petunia a peace his mind. Oh he was so very conflicted and the whole day had been confusing. Finally after watching Harry and Zack play for a few minutes more, Severus came to the decision that the boy was safe and in good hands… paws…. With the dog and that he would return to Dumbledore and report what he had seen. And suggest strongly that the boy should be placed with somebody else.

As he turned to leave, a group of boys led by a child that was much too large for any age caught his eye and he noticed they were heading for Harry. Something told him to stay and watch what would happen.

"Hey freak!" Dudley called loudly as he and his boys headed toward his scrawny cousin. Harry froze as if fright and slowly turned around, a look of fear on his face. Zack wasn't by his side, the man in a dog's body had gone after the ball after Harry had kicked it a little too hard and sent it rolling down a small hill. "We're going to play a round of Harry Hunting."

"Oh no," Harry said softly and turned to run, hoping he could get away and get to the safety of Zack but he had hesitated a moment too long and was quickly surrounded, each arm grabbed in a bruising grip by two of Dudley's 'friends'. "L-let me go!"

Down the hill Zack's ears perked up as he heard Harry's frighten voice and abandoned looking for the ball, turning on his paw and racing back up hill.

Harry struggled in the grip the two boys had on him.

"You think you can just take my second room freak?" Dudley asked. "I don't know what you did to Mum and Dad but I'm not going to let you get away with it." Dudley pulled back his fist to punch Harry in the stomach but didn't get the chance as Zack ran up behind him and grabbed the fat boy by the back of his pants and pulled back. Dudley gave a yell of surprise as he was yanked off his feet, tossed back and rolled a few feet away. Zack turned on the other boys snarling and barring his teeth.

 _"Get away from him you little bullies,"_ Zack said as stepped closer to Harry. The boys who had been holding Harry quickly moved out of the way not waiting to be bitten by the large dog, not knowing that no matter what Zack wouldn't bite a child no matter how bratty.

At the same time Severus had canceled the Notice-Me-Not charm and had walked over to the group, standing behind Harry and Zack. He placed his hands on Harry's shoulders, who stiffened in fight, then used his best school voice he used on foolish little Gryffindors.

"Is there a problem here gentlemen?" He said in that dark voice that caught everyone's attention. Dudley's friends paused in helping the youngest Dursley to his feet and looked up at Severus in fright.

"N-no sir?" Pier's asked.

"Really?" Severus nearly purred out the word, one dark eyebrow rising. "So I did not see all of you about to inflict harm on this young man?" Zack gave Severus a half glance but kept most of his attention on the other kids.

"Why are you defending him?" Dudley asked, huffing and puffing as he finally rolled to his front and pushed himself off the ground to stand. "He's nothing but a-"

"I would not finish that sentence if I were you," Severus said in a cold deadly tone. Dudley seemed to finally realize that things were a little bit more serious than normal and looked up at the man with wide piggy eyes. "All of you return home now or I will be contacting your families. Go." While it hadn't been yelled, Dudley and his gang scattered like they had been shot at. As soon as the boys were gone, Zack turned and faced the man with a warning growl. Severus slowly lifted his hands off Harry's and held them up, taking a small step back.

 _"That's right buddy,"_ Zack said as he stepped closer to Harry, feeling the boy's hand on his back. Zack took a good look at the man; pale almost yellow-tinted skin, large nose that looked like it have been broken a time or two in the past, all black clothing and greasy looking black hair. _"Shiva's tits! This guy can compete with Hojo for the greasiest hair!"_

"Are you alright Mr. Potter?" Severus asked ignoring the looks Zack was giving him.

"Y-yes sir…" Harry said just as cautious and pressing closer into Zack's side trusting his new friend to protect him. "H...how did you know my name?"

"My name is Severus Snape, I am a professor at Hogwarts," Severus said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry sir, but where?" Harry asked. Severus's eyebrow rose a bit.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he said. "The school you will be joining in a year's time. Surely you guardians have told you about this?" Harry hesitated for a second then slowly shook his head.

"M-my aunt and uncle, they… they claim that magic doesn't exists," the boy said. "They don't even like to hear the word. They've never told me about Hog… Hogwarts."

"Typical Petunia," Severus said under his breath with a tisking sound and a sigh. "And what do you believe Mr. Potter?"

"Well…. Sometimes I can do things, like the time my aunt cut off all my hair but left a little bit in the front to cover my scar," Harry said tugging on a lock of hair. "I… my hair grew back over night. And I've made a sweater that use to belong to my cousin that was an ugly shade of orange with little puff balls on it shrink until it wouldn't fit when my aunt tried to make me wear it. I… well how can I do that unless it's magic?"

"Smart lad," Severus said then gestured to the park bench. Harry hesitated then walked over to it with Zack by his side. Harry sat down next to his things with Zack sitting at his feet yet still managed to tower over him. Severus said on the other end of the bench with the bags between him.

 _"Wait… he's where that scent been coming from all day!"_ Zack said as he narrowed his eyes at Snape. He had smelled something all day, something that had been nagging him but for the life of him he couldn't figured out why. He still wasn't use to the enhanced sense of smell and had no idea what smells belonged to who, but this one had been around them all day. _"Ok buddy, why have you been following us? Are you some sort of creep?"_ Zack growled as he stepped closer to Snape.

"Zack!" Harry quickly jumped up and placed his arms around the dog's neck. Severus kept very still wondering why the dog was suddenly so aggressive toward him. He slowly reached toward his wand but froze as Zack gave a warning growl.

"Mr. Potter…" He said in a slow calm tone. "Do you know why your dog is so agitated?"

"He… well…" Harry tired to figure out what to say without giving away that he could hear Zack speaking in his head. "He umm…. Thinks you've been following us all day…. Have you sir? Why?"

"Yes… I was sent by the Headmaster of the school to check on you," Severus said, filing away the bit where Harry acted as if he could hear what the dog was thinking. "I witnessed you and… Zack… leaving the house by yourself and wished to insure no harm came to you. Why did you leave the house without adult supervision?"

"Aunt Petunia said Zack and I had to leave after I cleaned out Dudley's second bedroom and told me not to come back until tonight," Harry said, sighing in relief as Zack finally stopped growling and sat back down.

"Second bedroom?" Severus asked, the fat boy had said something about a second room as well and could only assume that the boy had been this 'Dudley' and Harry's cousin. "The overweight child, your cousin?" Harry nodded slightly. "Your cousin was given two bedrooms? Whatever for?"

Harry hesitated, he hadn't minded telling Zack, the man had gone out of his way to help Harry but in Harry's experience adults didn't usually help him at all. He looked down slightly and petted Zack trying to smooth down the spiky looking fur that stuck up on the large dog's head and marveled at how soft it really was.

"I cannot help you if you do not tell me Mr. Potter," Severus said softly, the same gentle tone he used on some of his abused snakes.

"I've told other adults before and nothing ever changed, I was punished instead," Harry said just as softly. Of course… Zack was an adult and he went out of his way to make things better. Zack lifted his head and licked Harry's cheek.

"I am not like those dunderheads, I assure you Mr. Potter," Severus said. Harry sighed softly and petted Zack again.

 _"I guess go ahead and tell him. I find it weird he was following us all day but he doesn't give off that evil vibe,"_ Zack encouraged him.

"My cousin used the smallest bedroom to put any toys or things Dudley didn't want or broke in there," Harry said.

"And your aunt allowed this?" Severus asked, he couldn't imagine uppity Petunia allow something like that to go on.

"Aunt Petunia lets Dudley do what he wants and buys anything he wants," Harry said with a small shrug. "I only cleaned it out because they are going to let me sleep in there now."

"…. And where did you sleep before?" Severus asked. Harry murmured something very softly with a red face. "Speak up, I did not hear you."

"I-I said the cupboard under the stairs," Harry repeated a bit louder.

"The cupboard… under the stairs," Severus repeated back. When Harry nodded slightly Severus cursed under his breath. "Blasted woman, I should have know her jealously of your mother would warp her mind."

"Do… do you know Aunt Petunia? My Mum?" Harry asked looking up at Severus with hopeful green eyes. Lily's green eyes…. Severus felt his resolve crack slightly and sighed.

"I… knew your mother and aunt when we were children," he said. "We lived close to each other and I was a friend of your mother's. I was the one who told her she was a witch years before she received her Hogwarts letter."

"Can… can you tell me about her?" Harry asked hopefully. "All my aunt and uncle have said is that my Dad was a worthless, jobless drunk and my Mum was a freak of a whore. That last part was mostly Uncle Vernon." Severus's face colored in anger a bit.

"You're mother was not… not that. She was a very kind person that tried to see the good in everyone but did not stand for bigotry or foolishness. And your father," Severus nearly spat the word cluing Harry and Zack in on that Snape did not like James Potter at all, "well I could say many things about him Mr. Potter but he was neither penniless or a drunk. He fought in the last Wizarding War and you come from a very well to do family."

"You… don't like my dad do you. Was he a bad person?" Harry asked worriedly. Severus sighed softly, he hated James Potter but he was bias on his feelings of the elder Potter and didn't wish to imprint the idea that the boy's father was a bad person. Had Harry Potter been just like his father like Snape always assumed he wouldn't stop himself but this abused child didn't need to hear this from him.

"Your father and I had… troubles with each other during school," he said. "I admit I do not like him so while I could wax on all day about your mother, I think you should speak to someone else about your father. But do know your father loved you and your mother very much and he did grow up out of his more annoying habits, if he hadn't your mother would have never started to date him much less marry him. He died for you and Lily and worked to save the lives of many people…. He saved my life as well once but I do not wish to go into that."

Harry took a moment to mull over this then nodded.

"I won't ask you about my Dad Mr. Snape," He said as he sat back down again.

"Professor Snape," Severus absently corrected. "Mr. Potter…. Why were you wearing rags this morning?" Harry was quiet for a moment as he thought on whether or not he should answer… he had told Snape about the cupboard…

"Those were what I usually wear… I always get Dudley's second hand clothing," he said at last. "Uncle Vernon doesn't like to spend 'his hard earned money' on me when I could just use Dudley's old stuff."

"And now?" Severus gave a pointed look to the outfit Harry wore now. Harry bit his lip and blushed.

"I… I found some birthday cards that Dudley never opened and they had money inside…. I'm not going to get in trouble am I?" He said worriedly.

"I will not tell anyone," Severus assured him.

 _"Hey, ask him if he knows where we can get some underwear and socks,"_ Zack said, if this Snape guy was going to hang around and claim he was going to help, might as well use that. Harry gave just a slight nod that Severus's sharp eyes picked up on but did not comment.

"Sir? I found a lot of clothing at that yard sell, but I still need… umm…" Harry blushed a bit. "I need new underwear and some socks, where can I buy those?"

Severus stayed quiet for a few seconds, he understood the appeal of new underclothing very much. His own had always been second hand like everything else he had own growing up. He was reminded of the time James Potter had hung him upside down, using his own invented spell no less, and ended up showing his old, holey underwear to the world… that had also been when he had uttered those words in anger that had broken his friendship with his beloved Lily.

"I will take you to a store where you may buy a few under garments Mr. Potter," He said finally.

"Thank you sir," Harry said with a smile, making his green eyes light up.

"You are welcome," Severus said. "Let us put your purchases away so you will not have to worry about them." He removed his wand and Harry watched with wide eyed amazement as the man shrunk all of Harry's things except his leather bag.

 _"Whoa… it's like a Mini spell,"_ Zack said just as impressed.

"Oh… I have to go get our ball," Harry said remembering the football. Severus shook his head and waved his wand again.

"Accio Harry's football," he said then a few seconds later the ball came flying back.

"Wow!" Harry said as he caught the ball. "Magic is so cool." Severus's lips twitched just slightly and he shrunk the ball as well, allowing Harry to place all the shrunken items inside the bag before pulling it on over his shoulder. "Can… are you able to make this look like a real leash?" Harry asked curious as he held up the rope. The boy laughed as Severus changed it into a simple black leash, not as good as say Minerva or even James Potter would have done but Severus's attempt was pretty good.

"If you are ready?" Severus asked after Zack was leashed again. When Harry smiled and nodded and Zack gave off a 'woof' of agreement, the dark man lead the pair out of the park.

* * *

 _"Whooo!"_ Zack yipped in glee as the chair he was sitting in slid across the floor as the weird triple-decker purple bus rounded the corner at insane speeds. Harry was laughing just as hard as his chair bumped into Zack's.

"This is what I imagine what an amusement park ride would be like," Harry said as the chairs slid again in the other direction. Severus snorted; his chair was stationary thanks to the sticking chair he placed on it. The Knight Bus wouldn't have been his first choice of transportation, he would rather apparate, but that was impossible with the boy and the dog. Well not impossible but Severus was sure neither were ready for the experience of feeling like they were squeezing through a tube today. Port-key and Floo were out and he disliked muggle cabs and buses even more than this blasted bus.

 _"This is more fun than that time I tried to ride that wild chocobo without taming it first!"_ Zack was laughing as the chairs slid back and forth. That big bird had tried its damned best to throw Zack off too and he had been in _so_ much trouble with Angeal afterward but it had been _so_ worth it. Harry so wanted to ask just what a chocobo was, Zack had mentioned it several times since they met, but didn't want to ask in front of the professor.

Speaking of the professor, Harry snuck a look over at Snape's way. The man was currently reading a news paper, or attempting to anyway Harry wasn't sure if the man was really able to read with the way everything was being thrown around on the bus. And was that picture on the front moving? Harry wasn't sure what to think of the man. Snape had scared the life out of him at first, and the man was good at looking scary too, but…. Once Harry got to know him a little, he kinda liked the man. Plus he not only knew his _Mum_ but disliked his Aunt Petunia as much as he did! How he wanted to pester the man with so many questions about his mother.

He didn't quite like hearing that his Dad might have been a bit of a bully, Snape made it pretty clear that he and James Potter hadn't gotten along, but he also didn't go out of his way to bad mouth Harry's father either instead suggesting that he find someone to hear _good_ stories about the elder Potter.

"Leaky Cauldron," the woman whom was the conductor said as the bus stopped. "Alright there Professor Snape?"

"I am fine Miss Elcomb," Severus said as he stood, canceling the sticking spell on the chair. Harry and Zack quickly climbed out of their chairs. The conductor Elcomb had been one of his half blood Slytherins, not very powerful but smart as a whip.

"Soon to be Mrs. Lytle Professor," Elcomb said with a smile stroking the ring on her finger. "My last year working on the Knight Bus, next year there'll be a new conductor. (1)

"Ah, my congratulations then," Severus said with a small nod of his head.

"Thank you Professor," she said then opened the door for them to leave. Harry waved goodbye as they exited the bus.

"Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked curious as he looked at the grubby looking door and the sign hanging above it. It was settled between a bookshop and record shop, looking very out of place. Zack's sharp purple eyes noticed that most people walking past didn't even seem to notice the pub, it was like their eyes were passing right over it like they couldn't see it. Those who did notice it were dressed oddly wearing what looked like dresses and were entering and exiting the door.

"A wizarding tavern," Severus explained in a low voice. "It is one of the main entrances to Diagon Alley, the main wizarding shopping streets in Great Britain. It leads to many other streets, when you receive your Hogwarts letter this is where you will buy your school supplies. For now, we will not going inside, instead we are going to the nearby muggle stores."

"What's a muggle?" Harry asked.

 _"Muggle, almost sounds like Moogle,"_ Zack said in amusement. Harry wanted to ask Zack what a 'moogle' was, just like he wanted to know what a 'chocobo' was and other things Zack mentioned, there was so much he wanted to know!

"A muggle is a non-magical person such as your aunt and uncle," Severus explained. "Your mother was a muggle-born, a witch or wizard born to non-magical parents."

 _"Huh, that's different from my world,"_ Zack said. Harry gave Zack a quick glance, burning with questions. He was so going to grill his friend once they were alone again. Severus noticed the glance of course and wondered what it meant but said nothing as he led Harry and Zack away from the tavern and into the busier streets. He kept a hold of Harry's shoulder and Harry clung to the leash on Zack's collar so they wouldn't get separated.

* * *

Zack huffed softly as he laid his head down on his paws and watched the people walk past. No one paid any attention to the very large black Great Dane, Snape had put some sort of spell on him that made people ignore him. Zack figured it was the same spell Snape used on himself while spying on Zack and Harry.

Zack didn't know what to think about Snape just yet. After all, the man _had_ been following them around like a creep all morning. Checking up on Harry was one thing but to spy on the kid all day? Yeah that was a little creepy and stalker-ish. Plus the guy just had that dark 'don't mess with me' vibe. Still…. Even after all that, Zack gut told him that Snape could be someone he could trust… He could pick up on the darkness in the guy, but being dark didn't mean evil, and Zack was pretty familiar with _evil_ and he just didn't get that sense from the guy. Harry seems to like him and Snape could tell Harry all about his mom.

Zack _did_ pick up on the vibe Snape gave off when James Potter was brought up, the ex-SOLDIER was sure it was more than just boy-hood rivalries between Snape and the elder Potter but Snape had down played just how bad it had been to Harry. Zack wasn't sure but he got the feeling that Harry had picked up on that as well, the kid was pretty smart like that. There was just something about Snape that remind Zack of… of a Turk! Yeah of a Turk, Snape would totally fit in with those guys. He could see Snape getting along fine with Tseng or that Vincent Valentine guy his buddy Cloud was friends with. Somebody like Reno on the other hand…. Zack gave a huffing laugh, yeah he didn't think Snape would like Reno all that much. Rude maybe but not Reno.

Zack's ribs gave a heave as he sighed again and went back to people watching. It was so weird how similar this place was to his own world but at the same time so different. He really needed to get his hands…. Errr…. Paws on some books to see how different this world was of course. But just watching the city itself, if it wasn't the fact the sky was clear with only a few clouds drifting by and the lack of the smell that came from the Mako reactors, he would swear he was on one of the upper plates of Midgar. The buildings were a bit different of course but not by much. And the people! Midgar's population was pretty high but Zack wondered if this London had even more people.

The cars driving back and forth, the people walking, the sounds, the smell of pollution…. Yeah Zack felt like he was back in Midgar somewhat.

Zack lifted his head as he _felt_ Harry coming closer through their bond and gave a doggy grin as the kid and Snape exited the store. Harry's face was just a tiny bit red, must have been embarrassing to go shopping for undies but Zack was sure it would have been ten times worse if Harry had gone with someone female. Harry picked up Zack's leash while Snape canceled the spell that kept the dog hidden. Harry's stomach took that moment to growl and Zack turned to poke the boy in the tummy with his nose.

 _"Hungry buddy?"_ He asked. _"If we got any money left, let's see about getting some grub. I think we missed lunch we were so busy with shopping."_

"When is the last time you have eaten Mr. Potter?" Severus asked as he heard the growling as well.

"Umm… this morning at breakfast?" Harry said as he scratched his cheek.

"Why have you not eaten lunch?" Severus asked with a perfectly raised eyebrow. Damn it, Sephiroth use to be able to do that too and Zack could never get it down!

"Well… I'm not really use to eating lunch," Harry admitted. "At school I might get something to eat but a lot of time I was hiding from Dudley. Aunt Petunia will usually just give me a glass of water and an apple. Sometimes I get some cheese and bread." Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, somehow he was not surprised. At least Petunia was not all-out starving the child but it was clear the boy was not getting enough to eat. The boy was not getting all the nutrients that he needed, the small skinny scrawny body was proof of that. And sleeping under the stairs didn't help either.

"Come then Mr. Potter," Severus said. "We will buy dinner before I return you to your home."

Snape led the pair to a very nice little restaurant with outdoor seating. After assuring Harry he could have whatever he wanted, and no the boy didn't have to pay for the meal, Harry ordered his first ever hamburger with chips and a chocolate milk. Zack was given a hamburger as well but just the meat and bread instead of all the fixings like Harry's. It was nowhere near what Zack was use to eating when he had been a part of Shinra, SOLDIERs had a very big appetite but Zack had gotten use to eating very little while on the run.

Also, Zack was thrilled that this world had hamburgers and fries. He _loved_ hamburgers! He did wonder why the fries were called chips….. meh, must be a difference in worlds thing.

Severus, who stuck to a chicken sandwich, watched as Harry slowly ate the hamburger and the chips. As starved as the boy had to be, he would have thought Harry would have inhaled the meal. He would have gotten sick afterward as his stomach wasn't use to all that food yet the boy was being careful not to push himself too quickly. Finally, when only a little under half of the burger was gone and only part of the fries eaten did the boy put the food down.

"Are you not hungry Mr. Potter?" Severus asked.

"I… umm… I'm full for now…" Harry said with just a tiny bit of a flush. "I don't want to make myself sick."

"You sound like you're familiar with eating more than you can handle," the man mused, fishing for information. Harry blushed a little harder and rubbed his hands together. Zack looked up as well to see how Harry would answer.

"A couple of years ago around Christmas time my cousin Dudley got sick," Harry said. "He wanted his usually breakfast, which is a lot of food for him and Uncle Vernon. Dudley couldn't finish all of it and Uncle Vernon decided to pull a trick on me. He was a little drunk at the time."

"What did your uncle do?" Severus asked but had a pretty good idea already what happened.

"He said I could have the rest of Dudley's breakfast," Harry said, looking down at his plate and pushing around one of the chips. "It was the first time I had ever been allowed to eat as much as I wanted and I stuffed myself. Right afterward I became sick and threw it all up. Uncle Vernon just laughed as he made me clean it up then made me stay in the cupboard when I wasn't doing my chores. When school started back up, I went to the school's library and asked the librarian what would happen if someone who didn't eat much ate a lot. She showed me a book about it."

"Did she not ask you why you wanted to know?" Severus asked, Zack huffing in agreement wanting to know as well. Harry shook his head.

"Just about everyone has always ignored that I've been abused. I tried to tell someone when I was younger, when I started school and understood that the way I was treated wasn't right but all that happen was that I was punished by my aunt and uncle," Harry said. "So I didn't try again after that, the punishment wasn't worth it."

Severus wondered just how everyone Harry encountered could ignore than the boy was clearly not taken care of and abused…. But hadn't he just that morning assumed that Harry would be a pampered spoiled brat like his father? He would have ignored the signs as well if he had known the boy was Harry when he first saw him… And people did tend to ignore of what was right in front of them. Zack on the other hand growled lowly to himself, Harry's situation reminded him of Cloud's so much! Zack had learned, more from his time from watching his little buddy from the Lifestream than from being told, that most everyone in Cloud's town hated the little blond. At least Cloudy had his mother, Harry didn't have anyone until Zack came to him.

Zack was determined let Harry have a better life than what he already had. How? Well… Zack still hadn't figured out the finer details of that, he was a mutt after all so he couldn't just adopt Harry or anything, but damn it he would figure something out!

After Harry and Zack had finished eating, Severus returned them to Number 4 Privet Drive.

"Uncle Vernon isn't back yet," Harry said when he noticed the lack of company car in the driveway.

"Good, I would like to have a word with Petunia without her oaf of a husband around," Severus said, he had more than a few words for Lily's harpy of a sister. "Come Mr. Potter." Severus guided Harry toward the house with one hand on the youth's back. Zack walked on Harry's other side making Harry feel protected between the pair as he clutched his messenger bag to his chest. He twisted the handle on the door and quickly found it locked. He glanced up briefly at Snape then timidly knocked on the door, this was not the first time he had been locked out of the house.

A few seconds later they could all hear feet rabidly walking toward the door before the lock clicked and the door was thrown open.

"There you are you wretched boy! You should have been home hours ago to start dinner and how dare… you… set…" Petunia trailed off, looking gob smacked at Snape.

"Hello Tuney," Snape said dryly with a hint of a sneer on his face. Petunia's face reddened in anger and her face twisted in an ugly snarl as she pointed at Snape.

"You!" she yelled. "You're that awful Snape boy!"

"You do remember me," Severus said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm touched."

"What are you doing here?" Petunia asked through clenched teeth. Harry watched wide eyed, he had never seen his aunt look at such hatred at someone, not even himself!

 _"Wow, those two have got a history,"_ Zack said watching. " _I wish we had some popcorn, this is kinda entertaining."_

"I am insuring Mr. Potter and Zackary," Severus ignored the huff of irritation from Zack when the man used his full name, "had returned home safely after their adventures today."

"Well they're here so you can go away now," Petunia said, she was gripping the door so tight in anger Zack wouldn't be surprised if it started breaking under her fingers.

"Is that how you treat an old family friend Tuney?" Severus was ever so enjoying this, baiting Petunia like he did when they were kids. "My, want would your neighbors think?" That seem to get Petunia's attention quick and she looked around seeing faces of her nosey neighbors peering out of windows and doors at her. A small whine escaped her, she couldn't be the topic of gossip this week!

"Get in here!" she said holding the door open. Severus placed his hand on Harry's back and gently pushed the youth inside. Harry had to fight back a grin, he had never seen anyone rile his aunt up so much, it wasn't helping that he could hear Zack's laughter in his head. Petunia shut the door as soon as they were all inside, turning and looking Harry over. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the much newer, well fitting clothing that Harry was wearing rather than the ratty oversized hand-me-downs he had been wearing that morning. "Boy, where did you get that clothing?" Harry gulped and started to fidget, this was what he had been worried about; how was he going to explain where he gotten the money to buy himself clothing that was much newer and in better shape.

"I bought them for him," Severus said as he placed a calming hand on Harry's shoulder, nothing in his face or voice to give away his lie.

"You?" Petunia asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"I had assumed that you and your husband were poor," Severus said amusement in his eyes. "I saw Harry and those _dreadful_ clothes he was wearing, and Lily was _such_ a dear friend to me, I couldn't leave him in those rags." Zack was on the floor, his nose under his paw as he mentally howled with laughter. Sneaky sneaky Turk-type man! Even Harry was biting his lip, fighting a grin. "Mr. Potter, why don't you and your dog go up to your room, I would like to spend a few minutes speaking with your aunt. I will come up and say farewell before I leave."

Harry glanced at Petunia out of the corner of his eye. Her face was beet red with anger, if she had been able to she would have killed Snape and even Harry with her glare alone.

"Yes sir," he said quickly. "Come on Zack." Harry and Zack rushed up the stairs, leaving the adults alone. At the landing Harry noticed Dudley in his doorway looking confused as to why Harry was not being punished by his Mum after he had given her a very heavily edited version of what had happened at the park. Zack's lips pulled back showing teeth and he growled. Dudley gave an almost pig-like squeal and hastily closed his door.

 _"Did he just squeal?"_ Zack asked with a bark of laughter as they entered the smallest room of the house.

"Yeah," Harry said with a softly laugh. "See, there's a reason why he's called a 'pig in a wig'."

 _"Heh, good one kiddo,"_ Zack said. Harry started taking his stuff out of his messenger bag, putting the shrunken items on his bed while Zack sat by the door trying to listen on the adults downstairs.

"What are they saying?" Harry asked. Zack's ears lowered a bit and he hunched in a bit on himself.

 _"I can't hear a thing."_ Zack said. _"He must of done something to keep us from hearing them. Hmm, I wonder if this world has something like a Silence spell."_

"What's that?" Harry asked as he sat on his bed.

 _"It's a status spell, makes it so you can't make any noise. So makes it impossible to cast any spells,"_ Zack said as his used his back foot to scratch behind his ear. _"If you rely a lot of magic materia, it's a pain in the ass. Only way to get rid of it is Echo Herbs or to use an Esuna spell."_

"Does your magic work like Professor Snape's?" Harry asked.

 _"I doubt it. I never used that stick thingy he used,"_ Zack said. _"We use materia, it's a solid form of mako. See the marble looking things on my collar?"_ Harry got up and looked at Zack's collar.

"Yeah, you have seven of them. 3 red and 4 green," Harry said.

 _"Those are materia, the red ones are called summon materia and the green ones are magic ones,"_ Zack said.

"Summon?" Harry asked.

 _"Yeah, we can use those to summon creatures from another world. There's a whole lot of them,"_ Zack said. _"Let's see…"_ Zack closed his eyes and concentrated on the orbs. _"These are ChocoMog, I love that summon, err… bahamut and… Knights of the Round?"_

"Like the knights of the round table?" Harry asked. He had once read Sword in the Stone and it had sparked his interest in the Arthurian legend so when he could he would try to read other books at the library.

 _"What's that?"_ Zack asked. Harry gave a short explanation about King Arthur and Merlin and the Kings of the Round Table. The large dog tilted his head to the side for a bit. _"Well, the attack has a bunch of guys in armor attack the target and then the last knight wears some really impressive armor with a cape and uses a sword to give the final blow so… maybe. Weird."_ How strange was it that one of the summons, albeit a extremely rare one, could have some sort of ties with something in Harry's world. Did other summons have similar ties? It would have to be something he and Harry looked into. His ears perked up as he heard Snape's footsteps on the stairs. _"Heads up kiddo, looks like the adults are done talking,"_ he said before Severus walked into the small room.

* * *

Severus slipped his wand from the holster on his arm and cast a silencing ward around Petunia and himself as soon as Harry and Zack started up the stairs, if Petunia was anything like the girl from his youth she still had the ability to get quiet loud. He smirked as he saw Petunia flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"What… do… you… want?" Petunia asked between clenched teeth. She wasn't stupid, she had no defense what so ever against an adult wizard and she knew what Snape was capable of.

"Can't I visit an old family friend," Snape sarcastically asked. "Visit the child of my best friend?" Petunia snorted in a un-ladylike way.

"I know you and Lily had a falling out during her time at that… that freakish school of yours," She said. "So don't give me that bull." She gulped as Severus towered over her.

"Lily and I may have had a falling out but never once did I not consider her my friend," he said coldly.

"If you truly cared you would have visited the boy a long time ago," Petunia said.

"It was only recently that I learned that someone had foolishly given Harry to you to raise," Severus admitted. "If given the chance I would have informed them a long time ago that you were a piss poor excuse of a guardian."

"I am a perfect example of a loving parent and guardian!" Petunia screeched in anger. Severus eyed the much to clean house, lined with photo after photo of her too fat son… and not a single one of her nephew.

"I would beg to differ," He said. "Your son will be lucky if he lives last his 20's at this rate with how fat he is. And no loving guardian," as he spoke he had slowly walked around toward the stairs. He saw Petunia stiffen as he neared the cupboard. "Would force a child to live in a small broom closet under the stairs like a House Elf." He blasted the door open with a spell at the words. He tisked and shook his head as he saw the filthy, thin mattress on the floor, the thread bare blanket and the bare bulb hanging from the low ceiling. He spied spider webs in the corners and other little things that left clues that someone lived inside the storage space for a long time.

"How dare you-" Petunia started to say then gulped as Snape turned on her.

"No Petunia, how dare you!" He said. "You abused the only child of your only sister. No good decent normal person as you call yourself would treat a child so! I might loath the boy's father but I would never beat, starve, or do any of the things you did to this child or any other child!"

"I never asked for or wanted that boy here!" Petunia yelled back. "My life was perfect once Lily was fully out of my life. You didn't see what that man she married did to my Vernon. You didn't see how horrible she made my life! Our parents liked Lily better than me; perfect, perfect Lily. Well now she dead, her freakish way of life caught up to her and I'm saddled with her son."

"I have no doubt James Potter did something to humiliate your husband," Severus said in a cool tone. "But if your husband is like you, for once I applaud Potter's habit of pranking. But don't ever speak ill of Lily, she is 100 times better than you could ever be. She gave her life for her son, refused to let him be killed by a mad man when she was offered a chance to spare her life. If it had been the other way around and Lily was the one raising _your son_ , she would treat him as her own."

Petunia turned her head away sharply knowing Snape was right. Her oh-so _perfect_ sister would treat her Dudley a lot kinder than she ever treated Harry. She turned back to Snape her eyes hard and full of anger.

"I never asked for the boy to be dumped here," She said. "Isn't it enough that your kind sent that _dog_ here to spy on us good normal people?"

"Someone decided your actions toward the child warranted watching," Severus said as he closed the cupboard door. He looked into Petunia's eyes and quickly used legilimency to scan her memories of the last couple of days. He saw the memory of Zack somehow casting a fire ball at her oaf of a husband, adding it to the mystery that was Potter's dog. He also noted that Petunia believed that the wizarding world had sent Zack and that he was either a magical dog or an Animagus. He quickly built up on her beliefs. "So Zackary was sent, it was only after I was informed that you were made Harry's guardian and I decided to ensure the child was well and that Zackary was settling in."

All lies of course, Zack came to Harry on his own as the boy's familiar and he had been sent by Dumbledore to check on why the wards had changed and to ensure Harry was still safe. A blessing in disguise as it had helped Snape past the image he had built up around Harry all these years, but he wasn't about to tell Petunia, or anyone else for that matter, that.

"We took care of them," Petunia said defensively. "Despite all the trouble he caused us, he was clothed and fed and given a place to sleep."

"You made him sleep in a storage space, his clothing was little more than rags and he is so underfed that I am surprised that the child even functions," Severus said coldly. "What you have done is considered abuse and I'm sure it barely scratches the surface of what you have done to the boy." Petunia bristled slightly at the words but some part of her knew there was cold hard truth behind it all. "Believe me Tuney, you will be watched much more closely. I would suggest you keep your fat pig of a son and oaf of a husband under control, I am much more dangerous than you remember."

Petunia paled at the words and she took several steps back from Snape. Satisfied that she got the message Severus canceled the ward and walked up the stairs to the first floor. Several of the doors were closed but one was open at the edge of the hallway and he could hear Harry's voice from within.

"Professor Snape," Harry said as Severus stepped into the room. Severus's lip curled just a tiny bit as he took in the small space. The furniture was cheap and shoddy looking, ready to fall apart at any moment. Even as poor as his family had been while growing up, most of the furniture in his home had been old but well put together. The room was also extremely small, clearly meant to be a storage or sewing room, not a bed room.

"Surely there were other rooms you could have been given Mr. Potter," he said as he waved his wand over the shrunken items on the bed and returned them to their original size.

"Well… there is a guest room but only Aunt Marge uses it and… umm… it smells like Ripper her dog," Harry said. "I don't mind this room, really. It's loads better than where I was sleeping."

"Of that I have no doubt," Severus said. He considered transfiguring the furniture into something more suitable but he was far from a master of the subject and he was sure the transformations would only last a few hours. "If you are sure."

"I am," Harry said with a nod and started to put his new treasures up. Zack helped by carrying items over and giving Harry mental suggestions on where to put things. Severus watched Zack, something Zack was hyper aware of. After everything he had seen today and what he saw in Petunia's memories, Zack was clearly more than just a dog yet every scan Severus had used had pointed to the fact that Zack was just that, a dog that was in a familiar bond with a young wizard. Yet he seem to have a higher form of communication with Harry than any familiar should have and had cast magic on his own. And his being here had somehow altered the wards enough to alert the Headmaster and send someone to check on them.

A curious thought occurred to Severus and he drew his wand, Zack noticed and gave a little warning growl.

 _"Don't think I don't see you,"_ Zack said his eyes glowing, another thing Snape noted.

"Sir?" Harry asked looking worried as he looked between the man and Zack.

"There is nothing to worry about," Severus said to the both of them. "There are wards around your home Mr. Potter and I simply want to assure they are accepting Zackary." Zack didn't think that was the whole truth, something in his gut told him it was something more than that but stopped growling and sat still to let Snape use magic on him.

Severus's eyebrow rose after a few moments, he had been really checking on the blood wards and how they were reacting to Zack. He was floored to see they seem to be tethered to Zack with the other end tied to Harry, as the wards should be. The bonding looked new, as if they had recently shifted. This, Severus realized, is what caused the changes that Albus has saw. Instead of being tied to Harry's aunt and cousin, his blood relatives, they were tied to Zack. That meant the blood wards were not blood wards but something similar.

"I-is everything alright sir?" Harry asked.

"Yes Mr. Potter, the wards are reacting well with your familiar," Severus said with a little mental shake. He would have to think on what this meant. "I will take my leave of you now."

"Thank you sir, for all your help today," Harry said as he petted Zack.

 _"Yeah, even if you are a creepy Turk,"_ Zack said jokingly. Severus nodded then apparated out of the room with a sharp crack. _"Whoa! Now that is cool!"_

* * *

Author Note: (1) According to everything I could find Stanley Shunpike graduated the year before Harry started and started working on the Knight Bus the next year.


	4. Chapter 4

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

My best buddy Asilyessam has betaed this chapter for me.

Author Notes: Lord, it's been quite a few months since I've updated this so I'm glad to have finally gotten this chapter done. As always I hope the chapter is enjoyable for everyone. Also I just wanted to let everyone know I finally got a twitter account, under the name usa_tiger1983, where I'm going to post updates and story recs and all that sort of stuff.

Chapter 4

Severus appeared with a crack at the edge of the Hogwarts wards by the front gates. The two gargoyles that perched on either side of the gate shifted as Severus passed them but otherwise didn't move. Severus's head was bent as he walked toward the school, he was still trying to process and rearrange everything he learned today in his thoughts. Everything he had assumed about one Harry Potter had more or less had been thrown out the window as soon as he realized the small under-fed, obviously abused child was the very child he had up until then thought was a spoiled, pampered bully just like his father.

It was nice to see the son of the woman he loved hadn't been anything like he thought, though Severus was sure there was something in Harry that he got from his father, but he never wanted to see any child like that, not even the child of one of his worst tormentors as a teen. In fact Severus was surprised that the boy wasn't bitter toward the world and hateful toward muggles, he didn't appear to be leaning toward the dark. He wouldn't blamed Harry if he had after living with Petunia who had become a bitter shrew of a woman who still had a chip on her shoulder.

The corner of Severus's lip curled into a smirk, it had felt good putting Petunia down again after so many years. The look on her face when she had opened the door would be something he was sure he would revisit many times. The smirk fell away as Severus considered just what he would tell his boss… and what to do about Harry. Severus didn't feel right about leaving Harry with Petunia and her family, not at all. Yes he had that strange dog Zack with him, the one that was more than just a dog, but that didn't mean total protection from Harry's family. Sooner or later one of the adult Dursleys would push the limit to see what they could do. His money was on Petunia's husband after what Harry had told him and what he had seen when he glimpsed in Petunia's memories.

Then there were the blood wards, Severus had doubts that the wards were in fact blood wards at all. They were something similar he was sure but they were either something Lily invented herself or modified from a blood ward spell or it was an old magic spell from times when the old magicks were still used. The Potters were an old family, how old he didn't know but Severus was sure that like other old pureblood families they had rare books of spells and enchantments that just weren't known anymore. It was possible that whatever this ward was, it could have been found there.

Severus blinked as he found himself at the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. The way was already open, with no students at the school Albus found no reason to close his office off, and Severus was glad there were no students or anyone else around to see him so lost in his own thoughts. Stepping onto the bottom stair Severus let it carry him to the top as plans on what he was going to say raced through his mind.

"The door is open Severus my boy," Albus's voice said from the other side of the door before the stairs even came to a halt. Severus, like many others in the school, wondered just how Albus knew who stood outside his door, he suspected either a ward or spell or that the gargoyle somehow informed him or the paintings were warning him ahead of time. Albus refused to confirm or deny any of those theories but Severus was determine to find out one day so he could win the teacher pool.

Severus opened the door and found Albus at his desk scribbling away at some paperwork with a quill made of phoenix feather, no doubt donated by the man's familiar Fawkes the phoenix who was sitting on his golden perch preening his feathers on a wing.

"I was beginning to worry," Albus said as he glanced up at his Severus over his half-moon glasses. "I expected you to return hours ago. Is everything alright with young Harry? Did you discover what the cause of the ward shifting was?"

Severus sat in one of the tall back chairs across from Dumbledore, leaning back and pressing the tips of his fingers together. "The child is alright, for now. I believe the fluxuation you had in your instruments were caused by Mr. Potter acquiring a familiar." Albus picked up right away on the way Severus now spoke about Harry, without the bite that he had always said Potter before. It pleased him to no end, maybe Severus was finally starting to see that Harry was not his father and was just a child, from what Arabella told him during her monthly reports Harry was a kind thoughtful child if a little quiet at times. Of course she said other things as well but Albus was sure she was mistaken in what she had told him.

"What sort of familiar?" Albus asked as he set his quill in the pot of ink then clasped his hands in front of him on the desk. His mind ran through the possibilities, hoping it wasn't something like a snake.

"A dog," Severus said. "A black Great Dane, he calls the great beast 'Zack'." Albus blinked, well he surly wasn't expecting Severus to say a dog much less something as large as a Great Dane but it would just have to be something to work around.

"I see, well while uncommon it is not the first time a student as brought a dog to the school," He said, taking a bit of parchment and writing down a note on it. "We'll just have to make accommodations for Harry's friend. Are you sure that Zack is Harry's familiar?"

"I preformed all the tests, I am sure," Severus said, deciding not to share his thoughts on Zack, at least not yet, he had no proof to back anything he said up. Albus just nodded and finished writing his note to himself.

"As long as everything is fine then… is there something my boy?" Albus asked seeing the look in Severus's eye.

"I'm curious sir as to why you believed it was a good idea to leave Mr. Potter is Petunia's care," Severus asked a touch too calmly.

"Mrs. Dursley is Harry's only remaining family, she is the only one whom I could place Harry with for his protection," Albus said. "She has a son his age, I'm sure they get along fine."

"Have you ever checked on the boy?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow. "Fine is not the word I would use. Leaving him with his aunt was not the wisest choice Albus."

"Surely my boy you must be mistaken," Albus said with a small shake of his head. "Harry is her nephew, her blood kin."

"Blood does not mean much too some people," Severus pointed out. "Petunia was always jealous of Lily when we were children; she called the both of us freaks. She has only become bitterer over the years and is clearly taking it out on her nephew as is her husband."

"I know Lily has some problems with her sister, who doesn't with siblings," Albus said thinking on his own childhood with his brother and sister. "But it couldn't have been that bad, Petunia wrote a letter to me asking if she could come to Hogwarts as well, sadly I had to write her back informing her it would be impossible." Severus blinked; he hadn't known Petunia had written to Dumbledore asking to go to Hogwarts. It would explain why she became even nastier toward him and Lily after they returned from their first year. "After so many years I'm sure she is over petty sibling fights."

"Albus, she made Harry sleep in the cupboard under the stairs," Severus said bluntly. Albus started at that, eyes wide in shock. "Until yesterday in fact when they finally moved him into the smallest room in the house, a room that until today had housed his very spoiled cousins broken and cast off things. They have starved the boy, punished him for magic that he has no control over, _he has been abused all the years he's lived there._ "

Albus gulped and leaned back in his seat. Fawkes trilled and flew over to perch on the arm of his chair, singing softly.

"Surely Severus, you must be mistaken," Albus said.

"I am not," Severus said bluntly. "Look into my memories, see if I'm not telling the truth." Albus slowly nodded and peered into Severus's dark eyes. Severus brought forth the memory of when he first saw Harry, dressed in rags and clearly underfed, what happen in the park and the conversation they had over dinner. He also showed Albus the memory of the cupboard when he had opened it while confronting Petunia. Albus gave a weary sigh and leaned back again, withdrawing from Severus's mind and rubbed his forehead with his long fingers. Fawkes trilled again in a song to ease his bonded wizard's pain.

"I knew that young Harry's life wouldn't be easy but… with the blood wards he is safer with her and young Mr. Dursley. We know that Voldemort is still alive, waiting and planning," Albus said after a few minutes.

"I suppose I should tell you what else I discovered then," Severus said. "I took a closer look at the wards, they do not appear to be tied to either of Mr. Potter's blood relatives but to Zack."

"Harry's dog?" Albus asked blinking. "That… should be impossible; the blood wards should only work with his blood relatives."

"That is not what the scans I did tell me. Are you sure that the wards are _blood_ wards?" Severus asked. Albus absently stroked Fawkes's head and neck, the phoenix closing his eyes in bliss.

"I assumed…" Albus said softly lost in thought.

"With the wards tied to the dog, Mr. Potter shouldn't _have_ to live with his aunt and uncle," Severus pointed out. "He can live someplace else and still be protected as long as Zack is with him."

"You don't know for sure," Albus pointed out but there was a note of doubt in his voice now.

"I don't think you do either," Severus quickly responded back. "Why not try it at least for a month or two, if I'm correct the wards will still protect Harry. If I'm wrong and they start to weaken then you will have plenty of time to place Harry back with his relatives before he comes to the school next year." A slow smile crossed over Albus's face and his blue eyes twinkled.

"You are calling him Harry," He pointed out. Severus huffed and gave Albus a flat look before slowly saying,

"Perhaps the child isn't has… horrible… as I assumed he would be," he said. Albus chuckled then sighed.

"I suppose we can try it your way," he said. "It may be good to reintroduce young Mr. Potter to the wizarding world a year early, he's old enough that the fame shouldn't go to his head. But who could take him in… maybe the Weasleys? Molly would gladly take him into her home but it maybe to too much of a burden on their family right now on such short notice. Hmm… ah perhaps-"

"He can stay at my home," Severus said. The room became very quiet as Albus, Fawkes and even all the portraits of the past headmasters and headmistresses of the school look at him in shock. Severus blinked looking quite shocked himself as if he didn't expect himself to say that.

"You Severus," Albus repeated. "I don't know if that is… such a good idea. Spinner's End isn't really an ideal place for young Harry, the Death Eaters know of your home after all."

"You really don't think that is my only home, do you Albus?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow. "I do have a second home I purchased after the war, one that my former… acquaintances do not know about."

"Nor does anyone in this school I expect," Albus said with a chuckle. "I should have known… well I suppose… Are you sure my boy? What about your teaching and head of house duties here? And when Voldemort returns?"

"It is not in the school rules that professors must live at the school, Minerva lived in Hogsmeade with her husband until he passed away. If I'm not mistaken she had a House Elf assigned to keep an eye out on her quarters and office on the off chance she was needed by her lions or any other student within the school. I do not see why the same could not work for me, my perfects watch after my snakes as it is unless I am needed. I also have a neighbor who watches my house during the school year, she can look after Mr. Potter while I am here in the castle for any reason." Severus said. "That is if things work out as I believe they would. As for my other duties…"

"Yes, let's keep this hidden for now then see what comes of it then decide if you should continue spying or not," Albus agreed. It could be Severus would be better suited to being Harry's guardian and protector than spying on Voldemort and Albus had other ways he could his information. Not as easily but then again he didn't think Tom would trust Severus right off the bat anyway if ever. "Alright, but I must insist on setting up other protective wards around your property. I'm sure you have your home locked up tight in protections Severus but I know some that you don't and extras never hurt in this case." Severus considered that and nodded his head in agreement. He was still shocked that not only had he suggested that Harry and Zack live with him but that Albus had agreed. He would have to clear out one of the rooms on the first floor for the child to sleep in and move his more dangerous books to his study. At least he wouldn't be living with that harpy Petunia.

* * *

"Snape!?" James yelled as he watched the scene unfold from the afterlife. "Of all the people it had to be Snape!"

"Oh honestly James," Lily said with a sigh. "Would you get over it?"

"But Lils, it's Snape!" James said pointing. "Why?" Lily sighed again and rubbed her forehead, she was just as surprised as James to see her once friend come into Harry's life and hadn't know how Severus would reacted to her baby boy but was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. It was good to see some of her old friend again, before the Death Eaters and when they had drifted apart.

"Is he always like this?" a man asked from beside her. Lily glanced to her side, Angeal Hewley came from the same world as Zack and Aerith. He had in life been Zack's mentor and friend according to him until something happened that ended in Angeal's death. He looked a lot like an older version of Zack but with straight hair and blue eyes and a small goatee on his chin. When Lily had prepared to go back to her own afterlife to continue to watch over Harry, Angeal approached her and asked if he could come as well to watch after 'The puppy' as he called Zack. Lily thought he was a lovely man to be honest.

"James and Severus have a bit of a history," Lily said. "Severus was my best friend growing up; he was the one to tell me what my magic was and that I was a witch. But we were sorted in different houses that were rivals and he fell into a bad crowd. On top of that this lummox," she pointed at her husband who said "Hey!" "and his little gang of friends pranked and bullied Severus through most of our years at Hogwarts."

"Hey, Snape wasn't some innocent snow flake," James defended himself. "He got us back just as good plenty of times and he was a bully too."

"Luckily James grew up out of some of his habits otherwise I never would have started dating him," Lily continued ignoring James. "But he never got over his dislike of Severus and I'm sure Severus still hates James just as much. I'm just happy Severus has over looked that and is treating my baby like his own person."

"I still don't like it," James groused as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"James stop being such a child over this," Lily said standing and putting her hands on her hips.

"But Lily," James whined. Angeal quickly removed himself from the area already seeing the argument brewing and had no desire to be in the middle of it. He walked around Earth's afterlife that was so much the same yet different from what he knew as the Lifesteam. It was peaceful and he could see many people watching their loved ones much like he had watched Zack then watched Zack's friend Cloud after Zack had died.

"Oh dear oh dear," Angeal heard an older man said. "Oh Augusta…"

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" Angeal asked as he came closer. The older man looked up surprised then gave a grandfatherly smile.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to disturbed anyone," the man said.

"You didn't," Angeal said then jerked his head in the direction he came. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter are in a bit of a row, I though it better to remove myself."

"Ah, yes Fleamont's boy, I was good friends with his father," the man said with a nod. "James and his lovely young wife, shame they had to die so young. Oh here I am rambling and I haven't even introduced myself. Adair Longbottom at your service." (1)

"Angeal Hewley," Angeal said smiling as Adair shook his hand.

"Good grip there, son," Adair said with a laugh. "Now you asked if I was alright. Well the answer is no, not really. I'm worried about my grandson Neville, I love my dear Augusta but she can be very strict and overbearing. And I believe what happen to our boy affected her more than she's willing to admit. Come, see my grandson." He waved Angeal over with a smile, letting the large man peer into one of those sorta portal things that let the dead watch the living. Adair brought up a young boy around 9 or 10 years old with blond hair and warm brown eyes who had a bit of baby fat still clinging to him. The boy was sitting in the middle of a greenhouse tending to a few plants. "My Neville has such a way with plants, the best Longbottom in years to work with them. Our family has run many greenhouses with the best plants for many years, it was one of our ways of bonding when I was still alive."

"He looks like a good kid," Angeal said.

"Oh he is, a bit shy though but Augusta and I always tried to keep Neville safe but we may have sheltered him a bit. But since I passed on, my Gusta has gotten worse," Adair said with a sigh. "She's always been very strict and proper; we're from another time after all. She loves our boy but stills always been just a little distance. And she tried too hard on the boy, I always told her let Neville's magic come on his own but she lets those horrible relatives of hers try to bring Neville's powers out. Some of the things they've done to my boy…" Adair shook his head. "And Gusta has tried so hard to make Neville a carbon copy of Frank, our son. I wish she just let Neville be."

"That's sounds dishonorable," Angeal said with a scowl.

"I agree," Adair said with another sigh. "That's the hard thing about being dead, there is nothing I can do for my grandson." Angeal patted Adair's shoulder in comfort. "Ahh thank you sonny. You shouldn't listen to an old man rambles, I'm sure you have a love one you would like to get back to watching."

"Oh… yes…" Angeal shook Adair's hand again then headed back in the Potter's direction. And they weren't alone, Aerith was with them watching as James pouted like a child and Lily looked smug. Angeal could only assume Lily won their spat. "Miss Gainsborough."

"Angeal, I told you to call me Aerith," Aerith said smiling. Angeal chuckled and sat down beside her. "You looked troubled." This caught Lily's attention as well.

"I just met an Adair Longbottom, he was telling me about his grandson," Angeal said.

"You mean Neville?" Lily asked.

"Do you know of him?" Angeal asked. Lily and James both nodded.

"The Longbottoms have been good allies and friends of the Potters for many generations," James said.

"And I became good friends with Alice, Neville's mother, when we were at Hogwarts. In fact Neville is my godson and Alice is Harry's godmother," Lily said. "Neville was born the day before Harry so he also just turned 10."

"And all four of us were in the Order of the Phoenix together," James added. "A resistance group against You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters, it was started by our old Headmaster."

"Have you watched him like you watch Harry?" Angeal asked.

"A few times when we were first here but he was in a loving home with his grandparents, I know Mr. Longbottom adored little Neville, and we became preoccupied with what was happening with Harry in Tuney's home," Lily admitted. "Why has something happen to my godchild?"

"Mr. Longbottom didn't say too much on it but he seemed worried and he said something about relatives of his trying to bring the child's magic out?" Angeal wasn't too sure just what that meant but it didn't sound good. James groaned and face palmed.

"It figured that old bat's family would fall back on old practices," he said. "A long time ago some families were so worried when a kid was showing little to no magic they were try all sorts of crazy thing to scare the magic out to prove the kid wasn't a squib. But something that could end up killing or at least seriously hurt the kid." A thunderous look clouded Angeal's face and he jumped to his feet, moving several feet again yelling angrily. "Wow, he must have a soft spot for kids."

"I don't know Angeal that well, I never met him until I was killed," Aerith said. "But Zack always said that he was very big on honor and hurting a child like that would be very dishonorable in his eyes."

"Yeah some Pureblood families are crazy like that, a lot of them are dark families but there are a few light and neutral families that did the same in the past," James said. "Having a squib in a family, a non-magical person born into a magical family, is seen as a huge stigma against a family and their magic though not as much as it use to be. But as you just heard some families are still like that."

"I think it's all the inbreeding in some families," Lily said to Aerith. "Just about every Pureblood family is related to each other according to James." James nodded in agreement to the statement.

"Some more than others, my family has always married witch and wizards outside of the British Isles or married Muggleborns, Halfbloods or at times someone from another magical race," he explained then rolled his eyes. "That's why it was so hilarious when people put up a royal stink about me marring Lily because I was a Pureblood but she's Muggleborn, they act like no Potter has dared to do that before."

"Oh goodness, sounds very complicated," Aerith said. Both Potters nodded in agreement. Angeal rejoined them a moment later and looked down at Aerith with a look of determination on his face.

"Miss Gainsborough, is it possible for you to do the same thing with me that you and Mrs. Potter did with Zack?" he asked.

"Ummm what?" Aerith asked confused. "You mean send you back to the living? I-I'm not sure Angeal, why do you ask anyway?"

"It's wrong, it's…. dishonorable what this family is doing to this child," Angeal said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I would like to go back if possible in the same way Zack did, and become Neville's protector."

"Is that the only reason?" Aerith asked gently as she stood, dusting off her skirt. Angeal frowned and bowed his head in thought.

"Mostly," he said. "But part of me wants to atone for what I did, I made myself in a monster instead of listening to Zack and dishonored myself. But mostly I want to protect a child who seems to have no real protection not even from his own family." Lily and James looked at each other in confusion, they didn't know Angeal's story at all and was a bit confused by the comment. Aerith made a little humming sound and shifted side to side a bit before answering.

"I'll see what we can do," she said. "Even if we can, it might not be just like Zack. I might not be able to give you the ability to turn into a human when Neville is in danger, a lot of that came from Lily and her desire to protect her son."

"Just whatever we can do Miss Gainsborough," Angeal said making Aerith give a laughing huff and lightly punch him on the arm.

" _Aerith_ ," she stressed her name in an attempt to get him to call her that. "What do you think Lily?" Aerith turned to the other female in the group.

"I would love for my godson to have a bit of protection too," Lily admitted. "From his family and anyone else. He was the other child in that stupid prophecy that Albus believes in so much."

"Alright," Aerith said as she laced her fingers in front of her and stretched her arms out, a few joints popping with the action. "Let's mosey." She started giggling at her own joke as she followed Angeal and Lily over to Adair Longbottom who looked amused.

"My I'm getting a lot of visitors today," he said then accepted the hug and the kiss on the cheek from Lily. "Lily dear, how are things with Harry? Those muggles still causing him problems?"

"Not as much, I've arranged a way to protect my baby," Lily said smiling. "And we think we might be able to do the same thing for Neville." One of Adair's eyebrows raised and he looked at the three others curiously. Lily and Aerith, who were very happy to meet another plant lover, explained how Lily had traveled across the afterlife to another world and had sent the spirit of Aerith's boyfriend Zack back to Earth as a dog to become Harry's personal protector. They also explained how Angeal also was from the same world as Zack and Aerith, being Zack's mentor and friend when they were alive, and was moved by Adair's story about Neville and wished to offer the same sort of protection.

Adair listened closing now sitting in a conjured overstuff chair his hands clasped over his stomach.

"The offer is… tempting," he said after a few minutes of thinking then looked at Angeal. "But why?" he asked the younger man.

"Would it sound strange to say that it feels right?" Angeal said. "I was a SOLDIER and lived my life by the honor taught to me by my father. But I found out something about myself, something surrounding my birth, and allowed myself to be corrupted by what I learned. I know I can never make up for everything I did, I was a coward I know this, but I can't let myself not do anything knowing I could make a difference."

"Hmmm…." Adair hummed to himself and tapped his fingers together then looked at Lily. "What do you think my dear?"

"Well Zack so far has been a wonderful guardian for Harry, as much as he can be as a dog," Lily said. "And Angeal was his mentor in their last life. And maybe I'm being selfish by saying this but I want my godson as safe as my son, or as close as I can get."

"It may not work, or at least not the same way," Aerith said. "I drew on the magic Lily left with Harry to form the bond between Zack and Harry and had enough magic to give him extra abilities."

"Would a bond between a grandparent and their grandchild work?" Adair asked. "An emotional one? Frank was always closer to his mother though he loved us both. I believe that is why my Augusta is so broken up over what happen to our boy, but Neville was always closer to me even when he was a wee babe."

"I may be able to work with that," Aerith said after thinking then looked at Angeal. "I don't think it will be enough to give you everything I gave Zack but I think I can at least form the same sort of mental bond so you can speak to him."

"I will work with whatever you can create Miss Gainsborough," Angeal assured her, ignoring the playful frustrated groan from the young Cetra as he continued to only call her by her adopted name.

"Alright, let's see what I can do then," she said and started to work. Luckily for everyone Aerith was able to forge a similar bond between Angeal and Neville that Harry and Zack had, but the magic available to her was only powerful enough to give Angeal a new body, once again they chose to go with a dog, and not a temporary human one much like Aerith had thought would happen. Angeal would take what he could get.

"Thank you my boy, for looking out for my grandson," Adair said as they finished preparations. "You had no reason to step up like you did but it eases my soul to know Neville will have you to watch over him. I just hope this gives you the peace you're looking for."

"Thank you Mr. Longbottom for trusting us with this," Angeal said, shaking Adair's hand when the elderly gentleman offered it. Adair shook his hand firmly with one pump then stood back to let Aerith take his place.

"Good luck Angeal and give Zack this for me will you?" She kissed the tall man's cheek.

"Yes… well... I doubt it will mean the same coming from me," Angeal said with a chuckle and a cough. "But I will pass it on Miss Gainsborough."

"For the last time, it's Aerith!" Aerith said with a laugh as she pushed her and Adair's combined magic into him. The laugh was the last thing Angeal heard as his vision turned white.

* * *

When Angeal could see, hear and feel again he was lying on the ground next to a lake. He made a doggy-groaning sound as he stood on shaky paws.

 _'Well, it worked,'_ he thought as he took his first lungful of fresh air in years. He was a bit overwhelmed by the much more advance hearing and smelling capabilities of his new canine form. His eyesight thankfully was like that of a humans and not a dog, one point in his favor. Wanting to see what he looked like, Angeal look a step toward the nearby body of water only to trip over his own paws and land face first on the ground. _'Ow.'_

Angeal shook his head, right walking like a dog was different from a human. He had to account for 4 legs instead of just the two. _'I must look the way Zack did the first time he turned into a wolf,'_ Angeal mused as he stood again learning how to move in his new body. It was a challenge, he had been turned into a toad before thanks to a Touch me a few times but being a frog was different from a dog. Still Angeal was nothing but determine and he was a quick learner. Soon he was moving around on all four legs as if he was doing it all his life. Satisfied that he could walk without making a fool of himself now, Angeal walked over to the lake and looked at himself in the still water.

The dog he turned into wasn't one he was familiar with, not that he was too familiar with too many dogs to start with. He was jet back with triangular ears on top of his head that were perked up. He looked like he was pretty large but he was certainly not the same sort of dog his former student had become. (2)

Around his neck was a collar with what looked like materia embedded in it and a tag that looked to be in the same shape as his wings when he started to degrade. He thought it was a very good reminder not to let himself go down the same roads he did last time.

Angeal gave a mental nudge to the summon materia on his collar, one of them was Phoenix which instantly reminded him of his best friend Genesis and he hoped the red headed man wouldn't allow himself to get into any more trouble back home. The other two summons were Shiva and Alexander.

Done checking himself over, Angeal felt out the bond between him and Neville, it had a pretty good strong tug on it which Angeal hoped that mean he wasn't that far away from Neville. Shaking himself Angeal headed in the direction that the bond was pulling him toward.

* * *

To say Vernon Dursley was unable to deal with how his life had been going the last few days was an understatement. He was, in fact, livid with how things were turning out.

Before things had been perfect. He had a fine wife who took care of the house, or at least oversaw the care of the house, and his son was a fine strapping young lad who was well on his way to growing up to be just like him. He had a great job, lived in a perfectly normal neighborhood and as far as he was concerned the envy of his neighbors and co-workers. Yes, it had been perfect.

Except, of course, the fact that his freak of his wife's nephew lived with them. Oh how he hated magic and magic users. It still rankled him every time he thought of the boy's father who had humiliated him with that freaky unnatural power of his the one and only time Vernon had met Petunia's sister and her fiancé. It was a pity too that Lily Evans had turned out to be a witch, she had been quite pretty from what he remembered but looks wasn't everything and Petunia was far better than Lily had been. So to be stuck with their boy, who was just as magical as they were, was unpleasant.

Oh they had tried to stomp that freaky power out of the boy, keep him away from _those_ type of people. To keep him away from that school and that crackpot of a headmaster. But, as his dear sweet Pet had pointed out, they had failed on that front.

It wasn't as if the boy didn't have his uses, Vernon liked having a lived in housekeeper, cook and gardener. After all, the little freak had to earn his keep somehow and it saved him having to spend money on hiring those sorts of people.

Then that _dog_ showed up with the boy one afternoon. That dog that was just as freaky as the boy, with glowing eyes and able to cast magic. Since that bloody mutt had shown up, everything had been just awful. Well at home at least, work had become Vernon's safe place as it were. If he was more prone to explode in anger… well no one pointed that out. But home… that was his castle! He was the master there! Yet that bloody dog had turned their lives upside down.

Vernon would not stand for it, he was going to take a stand and get rid of that blasted mutt and if possible find a way to get rid of the boy as well. There had to be someone who could take the little freak off their hands. He was done with the boy and his freaky world!

Thankfully, Vernon knew a guy who knew a guy who could get him something that would help him get his life back on track.

* * *

The following days after Snape's visit to Number 4 Privet Drive fell back into a mostly normal routine. Harry still had chores but the list was considerably cut down. He still had to cook, which he didn't mind, and still had to tend the garden something else he didn't mind all that much. He liked watching the flowers bloom under his touch and Zack liked lying out in the sun as he watched Harry work. This was also Harry favorite time because he would pepper Zack with questions about his home world which Zack for the most part answer without much fear of anyone overhearing him. Things Zack wouldn't answer he explained where either too dark for a boy Harry's age or were too painful for Zack to remember right now.

Harry learned about Zack's home village Gongaga, the name sending Harry into a fit of giggles while Zack gave a doggy grin.

 _"Yeah, it's as backwards as it sounds. Nothing but jungles and a mako reactor,"_ Zack said.

"What was it like growing up there?" Harry asked as he thought growing up in a jungle sounded exciting.

 _"Same as anywhere I guess. It was a place where everyone knew everybody or were related. I had cousins all over the village. You had to be careful when you left the village cause of all the monsters,"_ Zack said. _"The worst was the Touch Mes."_ The SOLDIER shuddered in remembrance.

"What's that?" Harry asked green eyes wide as he imagined a huge monster with deadly horns and claws and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

 _"It's this frog monster about this big,"_ Zack held a paw a few inches off the ground. _"Stands on its back feet and everything."_ Harry nearly dropped the spade he was holding as he covered his mouth with his other hand to cover up his burst of laughter.

"You were afraid of a little frog?" he asked after a few seconds grinning widely.

 _"Hey! Touch Mes are one of the worst monsters there is! They turn people into frogs if they touch you,"_ Zack said defending himself. _"You can't use weapons or magic when you're a frog. They can also put people to sleep if they hit you with Frog Song."_

"I guess I can see where that would be terrifying," Harry mused.

 _"Damn right, when you're a frog you are an easy lunch for other monsters in the area,"_ Zack said with a nod of his furry head. _"Only way to turn back is the Toad spell or use a Maiden's Kiss. Needless to say, Maiden's Kisses were Gongaga's number one export."_

"I guess you had personal experiences with those Touch Me things then," Harry said.

 _"More times than I like,"_ Zack grumbled softly. He had one too many run-ins with the tiny monsters growing up in Gongaga, his Ma had to keep a bunch of Maiden Kisses around the house to turn him back. Zack was terrified of frogs and toads because of them, evil little things.

"Still I think it would be fun to live in a jungle. Did you swing from vines like Tarzan? Where there apes?" Harry asked as he quickly got back to working on the flowerbed when he spied Petunia looking out the window in his direction.

 _"What's an ape? And who's Tarzan?"_ Zack asked tilting his head to the side curious. _"As far as swinging from vines, yeah we use to use the vines hanging off trees to swing into the lake outside the village."_ Harry thought that sounded like so much fun, he really wished he could see Zack's home it sounded so much better than here. _"We use to have contests to see who could swing out the furthest. My cousin Sophie use to kick all us boys butts all the time at that."_

"Zack… do you miss your family?" Harry asked softly. Zack huffed softly and laid his head down on his paws.

 _"Of course. I felt trapped there and really wanted to be a SOLDIER so I could be a hero so I ran off as soon as I was old enough to join but I still missed my Ma and Pa and all the rest of my family,"_ Zack said. _"I made me a new family at Shinra of course, Ang was like a big brother and uncle rolled into one and Cloud was like my little brother. Man I wish I was able to take them and Aerith home to meet my Ma, I hate my girl met my parents after I died and she couldn't even tell them we were together."_ Harry reached over to give Zack a comforting pat on the head hearing the sad note in the dog's mental voice. _"Hee, thanks kiddo. But don't worry about me, what's done is done. I'll see them all again at some point, right now you're my little bro!"_ Zack jumped up and playfully pounced on Harry, licking the boy's face as Harry laughed and started to playfully wrestle with Zack.

There were things Harry knew Zack shied away from. While he talked about his mentor Angeal, he never said how the man died but it was clear it caused him great pain. He never talked about his final days at Shinra or what had happened after. He never talked about someone he mentioned a couple of times called Sephiroth. And he never talked about how he died. All these things still hurt Zack's soul greatly and Harry didn't think he was ready to hear any of it anyway.

Petunia's screeching voice telling Harry to get back to work had the boy sighing heavily as he pulled away from his playing and went back to working on the garden beds. Zack huffed, he hated that woman and her voice could make Scarlet sound downright pleasant.

* * *

Every time Zack laid his eyes on Vernon Dursley his hackles raised. He couldn't help it; the man just oozed sleaziness and bad news. The comments he made about Harry, not even bothering to hide it, tore at Harry's self-esteem though Zack thought he was doing a pretty good job of soothing the pup over. The elder Dursley male was too afraid to do more that grumble under his breath, flinching just slightly when Zack turned his glowing eyes on the man and showed a little teeth. But Zack was sure soon the man would work past his fear of Zack, he reminded the former 1st class of Heidegger though Zack was sure Heidegger was smarter.

Zack had taken to sleeping in front of the door when Harry went to bed at night, guarding his young charge from his so-called family. Zack had heard Vernon's heavy footsteps plenty of times stop outside the door to the smallest bedroom and had even attempted to open the door. Zack's weight pressing against the door meant it didn't even move an inch and a quick growl was enough to send the man scurrying away.

But the last few days… Zack could see a hint of malicious glee entering those squinty eyes and a start of an evil smirk. Yeah, Dursley had something cooking alright. He had seen that look too many times at Shinra. Zack had to start thinking of a way to get his little charge out of this hell hole.

Petunia was behaving at least, a couple of times she had received a note delivered via an owl of all things that smelt like Snape. Whatever the man wrote in the notes had Petunia paling and shaking in rage before burning the letters before Zack got a chance to get a glimpse of them. Too bad too, Zack would have love to have known what the dark man had said to get Petunia all steamed up. Their porker of a son was leaving Harry alone as well, either on orders of his parents or afraid of Zack it didn't matter to Zack as long as Dudley and his little gang left Harry alone.

Zack's ears perked up as he heard Vernon's heavy footsteps come up the stairs and stopping outside the bedroom door, the same as many other nights the man did this. He glanced over at the too small bed where Harry slept with his stuffed dragon encased in his arms. The boy had tuckered himself out doing his chores, having very little time to play and be a kid.

When he heard the doorknob start to rattle, Zack leaned all his weight against the door and growled just loud enough for Vernon to hear him. The rattling stopped just as quickly as it started and Zack heard an intake of breath.

"Ruddy dog," Vernon grumbled under his breath and Zack heaved a relieved sigh as the fat man finally resumed walking down the hallway toward his bedroom to join his wife.

 _'We've got to get out of here,'_ Zack thought to himself once again, feeling a bit trapped and disappointed in himself that he wasn't able to do more to give Harry the sort of life the boy should be having instead of being trapped in a house with people who hated him.

* * *

Angeal's strong powerful legs had him all but flying over the ground as he followed the pull toward Neville. Like Zack, Angeal had only stopped when he had to sleep or eat and drink. The man ignored everything else as he headed toward where he was needed. He had only broken into a run when he felt a spike of panic and fear through the bond, so strong Angeal knew he was close and the boy needed him _now!_

The large black dog broke through the tree line of the forest he had been running through, seeing a grand, old house in front of him surrounded by old trees and gardens. If he hadn't been in such a hurry, Angeal would have admired the gardens and mused how much the house reminded him of the Rhapsodos's manor house where his best friend Genesis had grown up, the house surrounded by groves of Dumbapple trees that the Rhaposodos's owned.

But Angeal saw none of that. No his full attention was drawn to movement in a window on one of the higher floors. He sharp eyesight could make out an older man holding a younger boy, the child shrugging and fighting the man as the man tried to push the boy out of the window. Angeal snarled and ran toward the house, leaping and pushed off the side of the house then off a tall tree just outside the windows of the floor the pair were on.

Howling like a hell hound Angeal crashed through the window next to the one the man and the boy was in, turning and lunging at the man, clamping his teeth in the man's ass and pulling him back.

"OWCH!" the man screamed in pain, losing his grip on the boy who screamed in terror as he tumbled out the window. Angeal quickly released the man and dove out of the window after the boy, the buzz down the bond telling Angeal this was Neville. Kicking off the wall so he could get under Neville, Angeal caught the boy on his back.

 _"Peace child, I've got you,"_ Angeal said soothingly, feeling arms wrap around his neck as Neville clung to his savior. The added weight of the boy and Angeal not completely use to his new body had him unprepared to get them safely to the ground but Angeal was determined he would be the one to land first to break Neville's fall. Neville's terror brought his magic to the surface wrapping around both of them so when Angeal and Neville hit the ground they both bounced landing head over heels, or paws in Angeal's case, in the flower bed. Neville was shaken but unharmed as was Angeal.

Neville sat shaking in the flower bed he landed in, his breath coming in quick gasps. Angeal quickly jumped up and nuzzled Neville gently.

 _"Shhh, you are safe Neville,"_ Angeal said in a deep soothing tone, licking the tears off Neville's cheeks. It took a moment for Neville to come down from his fright to register Angeal.

"W-what? A-are you t-talking t-to me?" He whispered. "H-how is that…"

 _"My name is Angeal,"_ Angeal said as he sat in front of Neville. _"Your grandfather Adair sent me."_

"M-my grandfather?" Neville asked, his grandfather died a few of years ago and the boy missed his grandfather greatly.

 _"Yes, I am… I believe the word is familiar? I am something like that,"_ Angeal explained. _"I am here as your friend and protector."_

"Oh Merlin… you're my familiar? R-really?" Neville whispered in awe, he was use to his relatives telling him he was nothing more than a squib at best. But Neville knew they were wrong now! Only witches and wizards had familiars!

 _"That is the closest that I can explain it as. You and I have a bond formed by your grandfather,"_ Angeal said. Tears filled Neville's eyes as he did feel a warm feeling in his heart, had felt it for a few days now but had no idea what it was. And his granddad did this? From beyond the grave?

"W-what did you say your name is again?" Neville asked as he wiped at the tear tracks on his cheeks.

 _"Angeal,"_ the former SOLDIER said gently. He held up a paw for Neville to shake making the boy laugh and take the paw to shake. Angeal panted and gave the boy a doggy-grin. _"I am pleased to meet you Neville."_

"Neville!" an older woman wearing old fashion robes ran out of the manor house, the man Angeal bit right behind her.

"Gran!" Neville quickly stood and tried to brush the wet dirt clinging to his pants off.

"Neville are you alright? What happened?" Augusta Longbottom said as she started checking her grandson over. "How did you fall out of the window?" Her attention was quickly drawn to the side as the large black German Sheppard started growling loudly, teeth gleaming in the afternoon sunlight as he advanced toward Neville's great-uncle Algie. Algie was sweating heavily and was backing away from the dog, holding his hands over his rear end. "Hold still Algie," Augusta hissed while pulling Neville behind her and pulling her wand out of a holster on her arm, pointing it at Angeal.

"No!" Neville ripped himself from his grandmother's grip and ran over to Angeal, wrapping his arms around the dog's neck. "Don't hurt him!"

"Neville, what is the meaning of this?" the Longbottom matriarch questioned, Algie took the chance to escape back into the house.

"Gran, you can't hurt him," Neville said shaking in nervous fright as he had never stood up to any adult in his family, or anyone before, much less his grandmother. "He's my familiar, he tried to stop Uncle Algie from dropping me out the window." Augusta's eyes narrowed at that, she would be having words with her uncle-in-law she thought he had stopped trying to scare Neville's magic out of him after the boy had nearly drowned after being thrown off the pier at Blackpool. (3)

"And just how do you know he's your familiar?" she asked her grandson still eyeing Angeal warily.

 _"Don't tell her I can speak to you,"_ Angeal warned Neville.

"H-he… ummm… I can feel the bond, here," Neville said holding his hand over his heart. Augusta hummed then lifted her wand again. Neville squeaked in fight but stood protectively in front of Angeal.

"I'm not going to hurt him Neville," Augusta said calmly. "I am only going to test if what you said is true." She waved her wand and cast the spell softly, watching as the bond formed in front of her eyes. A smile spread over her lips as proof that her grandson was indeed right and it was proof once and for all that Neville was no squib as so many of the others in the family had feared. "Well, that's that, but you are responsible for him Neville, having a familiar is a very big honor and you are in charge of him."

"His name is Angeal," Neville told her relieved that she was accepting that Angeal was there to stay.

"Fine name," Augusta said with a nod then narrowed her eyes. "Neville, how did you survive being drop out of the window?"

"U-um… Angeal tried to catch me but we ended up… bouncing when we hit the ground," Neville said blushing. Augusta shook her head but smiled slightly, more proof her grandson had magic.

"Head inside, let the House Elves check you and… Angeal… over for injuries," she ordered then growled. "I have a few words to have with your uncle."

Neville gulped and tugged Angeal toward the house.

"You'll like it here," he whispered. "I'll show you all my favorite spots in the gardens and the greenhouses, I hope you like plants."

 _"I love gardening,"_ Angeal assured him as they went inside.

* * *

(1) Neville's grandfather is mentioned in book 5, it isn't clear who's father the man is so I made him Frank's father and named him Adair which means 'oak tree ford' or something like that.

(2) Angeal is a black German Sheppard, I wanted him to be a large dog but smaller than Zack who is a Great Dane mixed with another breed so his fur will be a bit long so it will spike up. And I thought German Sheppard would fit Angeal pretty well.

(3) Algie dropping Neville out the window actually happened when Neville was 8 years old but for this story it happened after he turned 10.


	5. Chapter 5

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

My best buddy Asilyessam has betaed this chapter for me.

Author Notes: So it's been suggested to me a few times that maybe I should shorten the chapters to update the stories I write more so I'm experimenting with the idea. The chapters' length would vary a bit but I'll try not to make it too short. Let me know what you think, do you like the shorter chapters with more updates?

See the bottom for more author notes.

Chapter 5

Severus's secondary home was as different from Spinner's End as it could be. The house he had grown up in with his mother and father was an old, brick row house that looked identical to the house on either side, behind and in front of it. He hated that old house and couldn't bring himself to live in it all summer long, but neither could he bring himself to get rid of it. It was close to where Lily and the Evans family had once lived and it did make a good cover for any Death Eater related activities. After all, who would think a wizard like Snape would live on a deserted, dirty street in Cokeworth.

He worked hard to make the house appeared lived in, kept all of his darker books and scrolls in the remodeled sitting room and brewed any potions connected to the Death Eaters there. The house was warded with just about everything Severus could think of and many he had created himself. No one was going to break in or drop by unannounced when he wasn't there.

But there were just too many bad memories to live in the house and Severus had always wanted a home that was suited to his personal tastes. Which was why as soon as his named was cleared, thanks to Dumbledore, Severus had bought the modest, clean and much better looking 2 story house with a basement in the country. Like Spinner's End it was warded to the gills and no one knew he lived there during the summer, except his neighbor Mrs. Herbert, a little tough-as-nails near-squib of a woman who lived nearby who had a small farm and watched his house during the school year and now Albus Dumbledore knew of his home.

 _'I'm starting to think my house has as much protections as Hogwarts,'_ Severus mused as he finished checking over the new and old wards to make sure there were no conflicts. With the ward Lily had set on her son, Harry would be very protected here with his mutt by his side. He still couldn't believe he suggested that Harry and his dog live with him, but he had sworn to protect Lily's only child and he couldn't just leave the boy with Petunia and her husband now that he knew how they were treating the child.

The house had been changed around a bit, his more dangerous books and items either moved to Spinner's End or set high on bookshelves with wards to keep young hands off of them. His potions lab in the basement had its own set of wards to keep Harry and Zack out when he was not there to supervise them. An extra room on the first floor had been converted into a room for the boy, one that had proper furniture that didn't look like it was ready to fall apart. All-in-all, it was going to be a huge improvement over his current living situation with the Dursley's but at the same time Severus was determined that Harry would be a well grounded child, not letting the fame from being the Boy-Who-Lived go to his head.

Looking toward the sky, Severus wondered once again why he agreed to this then entered his house so he could Floo over to Mrs. Figg's home.

* * *

Harry snorted softly in laughter as Zack 'helped' him clean the dishes. And he did help sorta, Harry was holding up a plate while Zack licked it clean.

 _"Hmmm… baconnn…"_ he heard Zack moan in his head as the large flat tongue swiped over crumbs left behind. Harry bit his lip as he fought his grin, he didn't know where Zack put it all but the large dog always seemed to be hungry though he never complained about getting enough to eat. Harry swore Zack could out eat his uncle and cousin given the chance and bet Zack would still be fit. _"There, all clean!"_

"You are horrible," Harry said as he shook his head grinning, turning to the sink to wash the plate properly then put it into the drain pan before picking up the next, and last, plate for Zack to lick 'clean'.

 _"Hey no reason to let the tasty bits go to waste,"_ Zack said laughing inside his head. _"Ohhh egg yolk hmmm."_ Harry snorted in laughter again then paled as Dudley chose that moment to wander into the kitchen for his first after breakfast snack. Dudley stopped, his piggy eyes zeroing in on Zack licking clean the plate, then a nasty smile crossed his face before he said out loud,

"Mummy! The little freak is cleaning the plates by letting his stupid dog lick them clean!"

"My dishes!"  
"Boy!" Petunia yelled in dismay and Vernon in anger before thunderous footstep all but shook the house as Vernon huffed and puffed his way into the kitchen his wife right behind him. Vernon's face was red, boarding on purple, in anger and his great meaty hands clutched at his side. Petunia on the other hand was pale, one hand over her mouth as she gasped. Her dishes, how dare that boy let that mongrel lick them, it was bad enough he allowed the dog to eat off her dishes! Dudley sat at the table ready to see the show of his freaky cousin finally getting what's coming to him.

"Boy! I have had enough, this is the last straw! That dog is going!" Vernon yelled.

"No!" Harry yelled as he quickly put the plate on the counter and wrapped his arms around Zack. Zack quickly shouldered him back and growled as Vernon surged forward to grab Harry.

 _"Just try it fat man, I'll tear you the pieces,"_ Zack said with a low menacing snarl.

"Oh I have just the thing for you, you nasty mutt," Vernon jeered down at Zack then turned on his heel and headed out of the kitchen.

"Y-you nasty boy, how dare you let that awful dog of yours lick my dishes," Petunia glared down at her nephew.

"Zack just licked up the crumbs Aunt Petunia," Harry defended their actions. "Then I cleaned all the plates in the dish water!"

"He's lying Mummy!" Dudley said goading his mother on. "Put him back in the cupboard where freaks like him belong!"

 _"Why don't I stuff you in that little closet fat boy, see how you like it?"_ Zack said growling and snapping his teeth. Dudley squeaked and quickly ran out of the kitchen while Petunia screeched in anger.

"Keep that mutt away from my Dudders!"

"Don't worry pet, we don't have to worry about the freak's dog much longer!" Vernon roared as he came into the kitchen with a double barrel shotgun pointed straight at Zack.

 _"Harry move!"_ Zack ordered shoving Harry one way then dodging the other way. Harry hit the ground and rolled against the far wall.

"Vernon!" Petunia scream in alarm as a hole was blasted in her nice cabinets and floor. Vernon ignored his screeching wife as he aimed at Zack again. Zack dodged out of the way as Vernon shot a hole into the table then clamped his jaws around the barrel of the gun. His super strength allowed Zack to bend the barrel in half, causing Vernon to yelp in surprise, then rip the now useless gun out of the man's grip and toss it away. Vernon wasn't about to let this demon of a dog win and started to pound on Zack with his fists.

"Stupefy," a cool familiar voice teaming with anger called out. Zack saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and moved out of the way quickly to stand protectively over Harry, glowing purple eyes flashing and teeth bared. The light hit Vernon who crashed into the far wall, down and out for the count.

"You!" Petunia shrieked in outrage as she turned to see Severus standing in the doorway holding his wand in front of him.

* * *

Severus appeared in Arabella Figg's home in a rush of green flames, the elderly squib notified ahead of time that Severus would be coming. As he appeared Severus noticed right away that there were several cat carries around the living room and boxes piled up by the doors, the room half empty and packed away.

"Professor Snape, so good to see you again," Mrs. Figg said as she entered the front room after hearing the floo. Severus made a show of looking around then looked at Figg with a raised eyebrow.

"Going somewhere?" He asked. Mrs. Figg snorted and picked up a knickknack, wrapping it in a piece of newspaper before gently placing it in an open box.

"Albus informed me you're taking in that sweet boy, I see no reason for me to continue living here," Figg informed him. Severus huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I had assumed Albus would keep his mouth shut about this," he said.

"Oh don't worry deary, that old coot didn't tell anyone else," Figg assured him with a wave of her hand then bending down to catch one of her cats to put in a free carrier. The other felines in other carries gave dissatisfied yowls and growls at their current imprisonment. "Oh hush you lot, you'll be out soon enough. Albus informed me about the change in Harry's living situation so I wouldn't worry about not seeing him in a while. Of course Albus told me not to bother moving, he seems to think Harry will be back but I have a feeling that he'll be just fine with you. No need for me to stay and my daughter is delighted that I'm moving in with her. Or at least I'm moving into the guest house on her husband's family estate so I still have my own freedom."

"I see," Severus said. He couldn't blame her; he would want to move out of this boring muggle neighborhood as well the first chance he got. "The boy and I will be taking a portkey from the Dursleys, so I will not bother you again Madame."

"Of course, of course," Mrs. Figg said. "Just tell the boy goodbye for me, I doubt I'll see him again anytime soon… and please tell him I'm sorry I was unable to making his time here at my home more pleasant but if his aunt or uncle thought he enjoyed it here, they wouldn't have allowed me to watch him." Severus dipped his head in a short bow then left the house, heading to Privet Drive. He doubted he would even bring up what Mrs. Figg said to Harry unless the boy asked. Still it was nice to know at least one person had total faith in this insane plan of his without question, it was just sad it was someone Snape barely knew but likely knew enough about him since he did remember she had been a part of the Order.

As before it didn't take Severus long to walk over to Privet Drive, a sneer on his lips as he gazed around all the identical houses with near identical yards, it was just so… boring. And so utterly Petunia. He couldn't help but think Petunia and Lily's parents would have hated this place. Yes they lived in a row house, much like Severus had with his parents, but theirs had been in a much better neighborhood than Spinner's End. And even living in a row house, Mrs. Evans had done her best to give their home as much personality as possible. Severus wondered just how Petunia could be so utterly different from her family, was it jealousy of her younger sister who had been prettier and more talented than her in so many ways even without magic that drove her to be as different from Lily as possible? Severus wasn't sure, it was a possibility he supposed, but in the end he didn't really care. He didn't like Petunia and had tried to make the muggle's life hell as much as he could when he and Lily were still friends.

In hindsight, that may have helped shaped part of the attitude Petunia had toward her nephew. Severus had no idea what Vernon's excuse was.

As he neared Number 4, Severus heard what sounded like a walrus roar then a loud bang of a gun. The dark wizard froze for only a fraction of a second then raced the rest of the way to the house. He quickly cast the spell to unlock the door wandlessly, already the neighbors were sticking their heads out of their houses and it wouldn't do for them to see Severus casting spells with his wand. Throwing open the door, a second bang rang through the house followed by a crash then a roar of anger and snarling. Severus's quick mind took note of Petunia's fat muggle child cowering in the corner of the living room attempting to hind behind a chair that didn't even begin to provide coverage for the boy's fat arse.

Turning into the kitchen, Severus drew his wand and quickly took stock of what was going on. Harry was curled up in corner covering his head with his hands and peering out with frightened green eyes. Petunia was screeching like a banshee about the damage to her kitchen, Severus could see two places damaged by gun shots and the gun itself bent in half. Lastly there was the huge muggle Petunia married trying to beat Harry's dog to death with his fist, which Zack seemed to shrug off as he snapped his powerful jaws at Vernon's snarling.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

"Stupefy," Severus quickly cast at Vernon, the spell slamming into the man and sending him flying across the room. Zack had already moved out of the way and was standing protectively over the Potter boy while the boy's uncle crashing into the wall and slid down unconscious to the floor.

"You!" Petunia screeched when she turned and saw Severus there. "How dare you attack my husband!"

"Shut up Petunia," Severus said in that cold deadly tone he used on his students, dark eyes pinning her into place. "I would keep my mouth shut if I were you; if you are unable to comply I will be more than happy to help you there."

Petunia's mouth snapped shut and her face paled then reddened in anger her hands clutched by her sides.

"No, I will not 'Shut up'," she hissed like an angry cat. "I have had it, this is too much. You barge into my home and attack my husband-"

"Silencio," Severus drawled with a flick to the side then downward casting the silencing charm on Petunia. It took her a moment to realize that there was no long sound coming from her mouth and instead glared at Snape with hatred. Severus ignored her as he turned to Harry and Zack. "Mr. Potter, go up to your room with Zackary while I speak to your aunt. I will be along in a few moments."

"Yes sir," Harry said as he quickly stood and ran out of the room with Zack on his heels. Severus waited a few minutes; cashing a ward on the door to keep sound from escaping and to keep Dudley from coming into the room should he get the idea to do so.

That deed done, Severus turned to Petunia flicking his wand at her with a mutter "Finite," making her flinch as a bolt of red light hit her.

"How dare you use magic on me your bastard!" she screech went she concluded that she could once again speak. "You fix what you did to my husband right now and get out of my house!"

"Silence," Severus said with a snake like hiss coming too loom over Petunia, tall as she was Petunia was still shorter than him. "I wouldn't speak of 'fixing' your husband if I were you Petunia. Not after he attempted to murder your nephew."

"He wasn't going to kill the boy," Petunia said glancing at the bent up gun and paling a bit looking at it. "I do not even know where he got the thing but it was too protect us from that horrible beast. "

"I warned you to keep your husband under control Petunia," Severus said. "Yet you can't even complete that simple task."

"I didn't tell Vernon to attempt to shoot anyone!" Petunia yelled. "This is the boy's fault, we've had nothing but bad luck since that brat was dropped off on our doorstep and now that beast-" she quickly pressed her lips together as Severus moved his want in a threatening way.

"I am taking the boy with me," Severus said. Petunia narrowed her eyes at Severus.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It is obvious even before now that you are a horrible choice of a guardian so someone else has opted to open their home to Mr. Potter and his dog," Severus said. A look of glee crossed Petunia's face, they were getting rid of the freak at long last!

"Yes, take him! Him and that beast of his," Petunia said. "And don't ever bring him back, I don't want that boy in my house ever again!"

"Believe me, he won't be," Severus said then turned, taking down the ward as he exited the kitchen and headed up the stairs.

* * *

Author Notes: Since Angeal has been added to the cast I've had a lot of people hoping I might add other FF7 characters and while it would be fun it really not possible. It works out so well with Angeal and Zack because they died on their world; most of the other FF7 characters are still very much alive. Which is too bad cause I could have so much fun with Genesis. The only other characters are Sephiroth, who's got Jenova attached to him so that's not a good idea, the Remnants (aka Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo) who has the same problem as Sephiroth and Aerith herself. Though I have considered Aerith on and off a few times, maybe pairing her with Luna.


	6. Chapter 6

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

Author Note: I know a few people were surprised that Vernon resorted to getting a gun and stuff, but let's face it he did the same in the canon when they were running from the letters and would have shot Hagrid if the gentle half-giant hadn't bent the gun barrel. So I can totally see Vernon getting a gun and his temper getting the better of him to try and get rid of his problem that way.

My best buddy Asilyessam has internet problems so Tsuyu-the-Hanyou has taken over betaing the chapters for me.

Chapter 6

Harry and Zack hurried up the stairs and into Harry's room, the door slamming shut in their haste to get it closed. Harry slid to the floor, his back against the door, with his hand over his chest feeling his heart race.

 _"That fat bastard!"_ Zack raged with a snarl. _"I knew he was going to try something soon, but I didn't think he'd try to kill us!"_

"Oh my god, I can't believe Uncle Vernon shot a gun at you," Harry whispered in agreement. "Are you okay? He looked like he was hitting you pretty hard." Harry was familiar with how hard Vernon could hit, it was rare but the man had laid his hand on Harry before as 'punishment'.

 _"Nah I'm fine, I'm a super solider remember? I barely felt anything,"_ Zack said shaking his head then pressing his nose against Harry as he sniffed his kid over. _"How about you kiddo? You didn't get hurt or anything did ya?" Harry_ stank of fear and adrenalin but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"No," Harry said. "I might have a bruise from hitting the floor when you pushed me, but I'm fine."

 _"Whoops, sorry about that,"_ Zack said as he hadn't mean to hurt his young charge.

"It's fine, but what are we going to do Zack?" Harry asked running his fingers through Zack's fur.

 _"Well one thing is for sure, we're not staying here, not after that,"_ Zack said. _"If we can't get that Snape guy to take us somewhere else, we'll run away. It's not a fun life but I've lived on the run before. At least this time there'll be no Shinra or Turks following us."_

"What is Professor Snape doing here?" Harry wondered. The man had appeared out of nowhere it seemed, blasting Vernon across the room. That was an image he was going to happily keep close to his heart.

 _"Err, who knows? Maybe he knew we were in trouble? Some spell thingy? The magic on your world works way different than mine,"_ Zack said. Harry supposed that was possible, so far what little magic he saw seemed to do anything. He leaned against Zack taking comfort in the dog's presence and wondering what would happen to them now. He guessed living on the streets wouldn't be too bad as long as he had Zack with him and it would only be a year, then he could go to that school Snape told him about.

"Mr. Potter, if you would open the door," Snape's voice snapped Harry and Zack out of their thoughts, Harry quickly jumping up and pulling the door open.

"Professor Snape," Harry said as he moved out of the way so Severus could enter. "Thank you for saving us but… how did you know we were in trouble?"

"I did not," Severus admitted. "I was on my way here and happened to hear the shots from your uncle's gun."

"Oh… why were you coming here?" Harry asked as he sat on his rickety bed with Zack sitting on the floor in front of him.

"An arrangement had been made for you to live elsewhere with a new guardian," Severus explained as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And not a moment too soon seeing as how that fat muggle downstairs attacked you."

"Oh… where am I going then?" Harry said as he jumped up and started to eagerly pull his things off the shelves onto his bed. "I get to take my stuff right? Zack is coming too?" Zack's ears perked up, this was too good to be true.

"Zackary is your familiar, he will always go where you go," Severus informed him. "And I have opened my home to you, if you would like. If not, there are other families who would take you in. Either way you will not be staying here."

"With you… no that's brilliant!" Harry said grinning up at Severus. In another life Harry would have hated Snape as much as the man would have hated him, but in this life Harry couldn't help but like the man. He had gone out of his way to make sure Harry was safe, took him shopping to get new under clothing, knew his mum and now was offering him a new home. "When do we leave?"

Severus was surprised to find he was the tiniest bit relieved that Harry seemed thrilled to be coming to live with him. He supposed Harry had formed some sort of attachment to him, Severus seemed to the first person who showed him any real kindness, but he was glad none the less. He took out a shrunken box from his pocket and reversed the spell on it, returning it to its original size.

"Pack your things inside Mr. Potter, then we shall leave," he instructed then stood by the door watching as Harry eagerly packed his meager belongings into the box, both those he bought a few days ago and the ones he had claimed from his cousin. Zack helped as well, just as eager to get out of the house with his pup. Once the box was filled up and closed, Severus shrunk it again then removed the gaudy colorful sock Albus had provided him. "This Mr. Potter is a portkey; a teleportation spell is attached to this sock and will move us from here to where the spell is tied to. You must touch the portkey to move with it, a finger will do."

Harry touched the sock with a couple of his fingers and Zack laid his paw on another part, once both were ready Severus activated the portkey. With the feeling of a hook yanking from behind their navels, the trio disappeared in an instant just as the police, who the neighbors called when they heard the gunshots, knocked on the front door.

* * *

Harry and Zack landed on the ground in a heap, Harry holding his stomach as he tried to keep his breakfast down. Traveling by portkey was horrible! Zack groaned as his hind quarters which had been over his head, flopped back onto the ground stirring up dust.

"Here Mr. Potter, this will settle your stomach," Severus handed Harry a small vial of a stomach soothing potion. Harry took the vial and quickly swallowed the potion inside, sighing softly as his nausea went away.

"I don't think I like portkeys very much Professor," Harry said as he stood brushing dirt and grass off his clothing. Zack stood and shook himself, portkeys had certainly been a new experience for him.

"Portkeys take a bit of practice to stay on your feet, you'll one day get used to the feeling that happens when the portkey activates, though it is never pleasant," Severus said. He wasn't a fan of portkeys either, he much prefer apparating. "You may call me Severus for now Mr. Potter, it would be awkward for you to refer to me as professor at all times. But, when you start school, you will have to refer to me as such during classes and school activities."

"Yes Professor, I mean… umm… Severus," Harry said then finally took in his surroundings. Severus's house wasn't very large, it was about the same size as the Dursley's home, maybe a little larger, but was much more rustic looking, having brick siding with vines growing up the walls. Just looking at it, it was clear it had much more personality than Privet Drive ever did and Harry loved it. The front yard had a neat little garden filled with plants he didn't recognize. "What are those?"

"Potion ingredients. It is cheaper to grow my own than to buy then from an apothecary," Severus said as he led the way up the stone path to the front door. "I would refrain from touching anything in the garden until you learn what they are, some of the plants are dangerous or must be handled a certain way." Harry made sure his hands were in his pockets as he followed his new guardian. Severus opened the door, then ushered Harry and Zack inside.

The living room was simple, no telly, but there was something that looked a lot like an old radio on one table by the window. A fire place took up one wall, two overstuffed chairs flanking it with a matching overstuffed couch across from the fireplace on the other side of a low coffee table. The rest of the walls were adorned with bookshelves filled to the brim with books and other knickknacks.

"You are allowed to read the books on the lower shelves, the higher ones are warded so you will be unable to take anything from them. Take care of any book you take Mr. Potter, then return them when you are finished," Severus said.

"Yes sir," Harry quickly agreed. Zack started walking around curious as he explored.

"Make sure the dog stays off the furniture," Severus added.

 _"Awww, but the couch looks so comfy_ ," Zack said making Harry bite his lip to keep from laughing. Severus stopped next to a closed door that had a strange looking light hanging outside of it.

"In the basement is my personal potions lab, you are not to enter without my supervision," the potions master informed the boy. "If the light is green, then I am brewing a potion that I am able to leave or you can enter with my permission. Red, you are not to enter the lab at all as I would be brewing a potion that is dangerous and needs my attention. Unless there is an emergency, I will not answer until I reach a point I can step away from the potion, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Harry quickly answered. "Sir… will I be learning how to brew any potions?" Severus eyed Harry for a moment before answering.

"We shall see, if you can follow my instructions and not act as a dunderhead," he said then added much more softly. "Your mother had much skill in potions as well, in some ways she was better than I." Harry's eyes widen and a little gasp escaped, now his interest was really sparked. Severus showed them the kitchen next, small with a round table in the middle of the room, but enough for the three of them. A large food and water bowls stood to the side of the room that Zack assumed were for him.

Severus pointed out his office to Harry, giving the same rules as before that Harry could not enter the office without Severus's permission and to always knock before entering. A small washroom sat under the stairs.

Upstairs were the bedrooms and the main bathroom. As before Severus's rooms were off limits unless Harry needed Severus for anything. Another room was a simple guest room. The third room was Harry's and the boy loved it. It was about the size of the guest room that Marge slept in at Harry's relative's house with a four poster bed in one corner, a desk, shelves and a wardrobe for his clothing. At the end of the bed was a giant dog bed for Zack to sleep on.

"I will lay down the rules during dinner Mr. Potter," Severus said as he removed the box with Harry's things from a pocket, then paused. "Harry," he corrected, he might as well call the boy by his name he figured, and it might help him distance Harry from the boy's father in his mind. Placing the box on the floor, he returned it to its original size. "I will call you down when dinner is ready. If you wish for your room to be decorated differently I will do so as long as it is not too outlandish."

"No no, this is fine," Harry said quickly as he knelt on the ground in front of the box and opened it. "Thank you Severus, for taking me and Zack in." Severus gave Harry a short bow of his head then turned, leaving the room. Harry got up and tip-toed to the door, Zack moving silently with him, watching the Potions Master move down the stairs to the ground floor, then waiting until he could no longer hear the man's footsteps.

"Can you believe it Zack?" Harry said in an excited soft tone.

 _"I'm shocked too. I was trying to think of a way to get you out of that horrible house but hey, this works even better than what I was thinking!"_ Zack said giving Harry a doggy grin and wagging his tail. He had come to terms with the Turk-like man and would trust Snape with Harry's safety and housing. That

didn't mean Zack wouldn't keep an eye on Snape, not until he was 100% sure that the other man was a-ok but Zack had a good feeling about all this.

Harry returned to the box and started pulling his things out, hanging his clothing in the wardrobe, then putting his books on the shelves next to the desk. He found a few other books already there, he assumed they were placed there by Severus as he read the titles. Hogwarts: A History, Wizarding World 101: A muggleborn's guide, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were just a few of the books on the shelves. Harry couldn't wait to read them.

Zack meanwhile did his own exploring around the room, the furniture were good, sturdy wooden pieces unlike the crap the Dursleys made Harry sleep on before. He tested out his new doggy bed, flopping on it with a content sigh. It wasn't a real bed but better than sleeping on the floor, or ground for that matter. And if he was honest it was better than the bunk beds he slept on in Shinra's barracks when he was a cadet.

 _'Gee, what does that say about Shinra when a dog bed is better than the crap the cadets sleep on,'_ Zack thought to himself as he got up and walked over to the window looking out. The window was open, likely to air the room out, so Zack stuck his head outside and breathed in the fresh air. There was very little smell of pollution out here, Zack knew that the clear air would do the kid good. He could see into the back yard, which wasn't very big and had more flower beds with plants, a few trees and a small house made of glass. Beyond that he saw miles and miles of forest.

To the side Zack spied what look like a small farm, he wondered if Snape's neighbor had any kids that Harry could make friends with. Harry would be free to make friends now that they were away from his bully of a cousin.

 _"This place is pretty great,"_ Zack said as he turned to watch Harry put away the last of his things, Harry putting his stuffed dragon on the bed by the pillows. _"Plenty of places for you to run around and I saw a farm next door! Maybe they have chocobos! Wait…."_ Zack tilted his head to the head a little bit. _"Damn, forgot you guys don't have those."_

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the picture Zack made with the confused doggy head tilt.


	7. Chapter 7

Once in a Blue Moon

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square Enix

Thanks to Tsuyu-the-Hanyou for betaing this chapter.

Chapter 7

At Longbottom manor, things had finally calmed down. With the discovery that Neville, for certain, was able to access his magical core and that he had a familiar in Angeal, a small celebration was thrown by the family. Algie had even tried to hand down his old pet toad Trevor to Neville as a gift, until Augusta reminded him that her grandson didn't need a, frankly, useless pet since Neville had Angeal. Both Neville and Trevor felt like they had dodged a bullet on that one.

It was days afterward that Neville finally sat down with Angeal, in the little greenhouse that Neville was allowed to grow some safer plants, where he finally heard Angeal story. He liked the greenhouses, no one except the family House Elves came out there.

"So, you were human once?" Neville asked as he dug a hole into the rich, dark soil.

 _"Yes, with a little something extra I found out about many years later. I was a general in an army,"_ Angeal explained as he laid his head on his paws watching Neville. _"I joined Shinra with my best friend, Genesis."_

Neville made a little sound of awe; he couldn't get over how strange it was to hear Angeal's voice in his head. The idea that Angeal had been a human and had served in an army, one he claimed was from another world? That really blew his mind, who knew other worlds had life on them?

Neville had also learned, within the first few days, that he hadn't been the only one who received a special familiar like Angeal; the other was none other than _Harry Potter_. Neville couldn't believe it! He wondered at first if he should feel sad that he wasn't the only one with someone like Angeal, but decided that it wasn't something to be sad about. It made Neville feel a little special that he had earned something like this, the same as _the_ Boy-Who-Lived.

"What was your friend like?" Neville asked as he gently set the plant he was moving into the hole he made and packed the soil back in around the roots.

 _"Genesis? He was… is very passionate, he loves the arts but 'LOVELESS' was always his favorite. He was forever reading and quoting it. He honestly drove Sephiroth and I a little nuts, but we still loved him regardless,"_ Angeal said fondly about his oldest friend. He missed Genesis, hated the path of madness they both took, although in different ways. He missed the quotes from LOVELESS, sparring with Sephiroth and Genesis, even Genesis's fiery personality. _"He was a fierce swordsman, always wanting to beat Sephiroth and to be the hero. He also had a temper like fire."_

"He sounds… a little scary," Neville admitted. Angeal's warm chuckle filled his mind.

 _"He can be a little much at times, and he did scare some of the cadets and infantryman in the regular army,"_ he agreed. _"What about your friends?"_

"Well… umm…" Neville shyly traced a finger in the soil, drawing out little shapes. "I don't really have any, except you. Gran always kept me at home, I mostly spent time with my Grandfather until he passed away."

 _"You've never been sent to a school?"_ Angeal asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, I'm going to Hogwarts next year, we know that for sure… I've always been taught by tutors my Gran hired," Neville shrugged his shoulders.

 _"She seems a… little over protective,"_ Angeal pointed out. Neville shrugged his shoulders again slightly.

"I guess… I think she might be afraid that You-Know-Who's servants might get me," Neville confided to his guardian in a soft tone. "I'm not really supposed to know about all that, but sometimes Gran and my other relatives talk about it at night when they think I'm in bed. Not all of the Death Eaters were caught and a lot of those who were, were let go after they claimed they were under the Imperius. Mum and Dad used to fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you know? Back during the war. Gran said Dad was a great duelist, he and Mum put away a lot of His servants."

 _"She thinks they would come after you in revenge,"_ Angeal guessed.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if that's true or not, I'm not much of a wizard," Neville reached up wiping at the beads of sweat on his brow. "But at least she's going to let me go to Hogwarts."

 _"You do not need to worry Neville, I won't let anyone hurt you,"_ Angeal said laying his paw on Neville's knee. _"I swear on my honor, I will keep you safe."_

"Thanks, Angeal," Neville said with a shy smile and basked in the feeling of having an older male figure care for him. He loved his relatives, but many of them were stuck in old Pureblood traditions and ways of thinking or were just too old to connect with Neville. His Grandfather was the only person he had ever been close with, up until he passed away. A little grin crossed Neville's face as he remembered that his Grandfather was still watching over him and had sent Angeal to him.

 _"Do you take care of all these plants?"_ Angeal asked as he looked around the greenhouse filled to the brim with different plants. Some appeared similar to plants found on the Planet while there were many others that Angeal couldn't even begin to identify.

"Well… not everything, the House Elves take care of a lot of it," Neville said as he sat back on his heels and looked around. "This greenhouse contains all the plants I'm allowed to look after by myself, the safe ones that is. Our other greenhouses have plants I'm not allowed to look after yet without supervision, or I'm just too young to handle them yet. The most dangerous are kept on other properties my family owns."

 _"Such as Cactuar or Malboros?"_ Angeal assumed. Neville tilted his head to the side, confused.

"I've never heard of those before," he said.

 _"They are two plant-type monsters from my world. Cactuars are cactus-looking creatures that always look like they are running, with holes for eyes and a mouth that looks like it's always open in surprise. They're usually a smaller monster that can be tamed and kept as pets, though it's unusual. There is another creature called Cactuer who are stronger and much more violent,"_ Angeal explained in the same mentor tone he had used with Zack. _"Malboros on the other hand, are much more dangerous, they possess the ability 'Bad breath' which would inflict a number of status spells from Confuse to Small on their opponents."_

"Wow…" Neville's eyes were wide, he was both wishing he could see these plant creatures, (his love of all plants shining through) and glad that he wouldn't see them, as they sounded very dangerous. "Are there other plants monsters?"

 _"Hmm… let's see. There are Razor Weeds, they're not very dangerous but they can be annoying,"_ Angeal tilted his head back, thinking. _"And… ah Mandragora."_

"Mandragora? Mandrakes?! We have those!" Neville said grinning. "The Longbottom greenhouses grow both the magical and non-magical kinds. There are a few of the non-magical kind here, in this greenhouse, but the magical ones are grown in one of the other greenhouses off property. They're great for medical potions, and I think we provide Hogwarts with infant Mandrakes every year. I've helped Grandfather replant infant Mandrakes, you know, when he was still alive. You have to wear earmuffs when you handle them, as an adult's scream will kill a person."

Angeal panted happily as he watched Neville gush over talking about plants, looking very much like the happy, active child he should always be.

 _"I don't think they're quite the same Neville,"_ Angeal said. _"Mandragoras are mostly harmless, like Razor Weeds. They won't even attack unless they are provoked first and are very easy to dispatch."_

"Oh…" Neville deflated, just a little, as he thought he had found something their two worlds had in common. Angeal shuffled closer and laid his head on Neville's lap.

 _"That doesn't mean I don't enjoy hearing you talk about plants, I enjoy it I assure you,"_ he said.

"Do you like plants, Angeal?" Neville asked.

 _"Very much so, I used to grow plotted plants when I lived in Midgar,"_ Angeal said. _"They didn't grow very well, due to the mako pollution, but they reminded me of home."_

"What was your home like?" Neville asked.

 _"Banora Village was always green, close to tropical but not as hot as say Gongaga was,"_ Angeal began with. _"There were old mines under the village, but no one went there and the village was surrounded by Banora White Apple trees."_ There was a lot more to Banora's history that he learned from his mother, Gillian Hewley, after he started degrading, but Neville didn't need to know that horrible truth and Angeal would rather remember the happier times anyway. _"Banora was the only place in the world where White Apples grew, or as we called them, 'Dumbapples'."_ Neville started giggling loudly and started to pet Angeal.

"Dumbapples? Why did you call them that?" He asked.

 _"Hmm… you have apples on this world?"_ Angeal asked as his tail started thumping against the ground.

"Yeah, my family owns a few different fruit orchards around the world," Neville said. "So we grow a bunch of different apples."

 _"Well, firstly, we too have different apples, usually in shades of red or yellow, sometimes green,"_ Angeal explained to which Neville nodded as that sounded like Earth apples. _"Banora Whites are different; their skin is a dark purple color. We referred to them as 'Dumbapples' due to the fact that, for whatever reason, something to do with the soil, Banora White apple trees will bear fruit at random times of the year, unlike normal apple trees. Hence they were called 'Dumbapples' due to the fact they were too stupid to know when they were supposed to ripen."_

"Wow, I wish I could have seen one," Neville said while his young mind tried to puzzle out how that was even possible.

 _"There's nothing like them anywhere else,"_ Angeal agreed. _"Their taste is unique, extremely sweet. They grow all over Banora, Genesis's family had the largest orchard. When we were young, Gen invented Banora White Juice which was quite popular."_ Neville settled in against Angeal's side as the former SOLDIER told him tales of Angeal and Genesis's youth in Banora.

* * *

Madam Augusta Longbottom folded the missive and poured a drop of hot wax on the back at the center of the folds, then stamped it with the Longbottom crest. She stared at the letter as she waited for the wax to cool, letting her mind wander over the last few days.

Her relatives were in a tizzy over the proof of Neville's magic once and for all, they had all been worried that the Longbottom heir was nothing more than a squib. Augusta would be lying if she said she hadn't been worried about that as well, for a time she had been looking into muggle private schools for Neville's education in case he was. But after the incident, where her uncle-in-law Algie nearly dropped Neville out the window when the boy was 8, she had finally gone to her friend Minerva McGonagall whom worked at Hogwarts as the Transfiguration professor, as well as both Head of Gryffindor and the Deputy Headmistress. It had been a relief to hear from the Scottish witch that yes, Neville was in the book of Hogwarts that kept track of all those whom were able to go to the school.

If Neville had been a Squib, or a very low level wizard (only able to cast a very few select spells), his name wouldn't have been in the book. Augusta had relaxed after that, assured of Neville's place at the school that generations of both her and her Adair's families had gone to. She had also told her family to back off, but it seemed they never fully believed Neville was a wizard unless they saw him using some sort of magic.

Augusta snorted softly to herself as she remembered tearing Algie a new one for trying to drop Neville out the window, just to force him to use accidental magic. Her uncle could have ended up killing her grandson with that stunt! You'd think he wouldn't have been so foolish as to try something like that ever again, but it seemed Augusta had underestimated Algie's ability to think since he had attempted to do the same thing yet again. Thank Merlin for Neville's familiar showing up when he did. Speaking of Neville's familiar…

Augusta frowned to herself as she stood and walked over to the window that over looked the greenhouses, she could see her grandson and his new dog through the clear glass. The dog, Angeal which was a nice strong name, was… odd to say the least. She had with a bit of research found him to be a German Sheppard, his solid black coat made him a rarity, but otherwise seemed to at first glance be a normal dog. Except for his eyes, not only did they glow but they were filled with an intelligence that was very human like. And there was just something about them that screamed that he could be very dangerous.

The House Elves employed to their family had also informed her that Neville spoke with the beast as if he could understand him, which fit in well with what Neville said that very first day. He claimed that the _dog_ had said his name was Angeal. All-in-all, it was very strange and if it wasn't for the fact that Augusta had tested for and seen the familiar bond for herself, which meant Angeal would be very loyal to Neville and would never hurt him, then Augusta would have had the dog sent away. The only explanation she could foresee was that Angeal was no normal mundane dog, he had to have been crossbred with a magical creature. Which creature, she didn't know and likely never would.

Still, she didn't have any proof and would keep her thoughts to herself. The beast would be by Neville's side to the end of his days and would always protect him even after she passed on to join her Adair in the afterlife. Angeal was a calm, noble creature that would fit in well with the Longbottom household so Augusta would happily accept whatever oddities he had.

Augusta turned from the window and picked up the letter off her desk, walking over to an owl stand where one of the estate's barn owls waited.

"Take this to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts," she instructed the owl as she tied the missive to its leg. The owl hooted then as it glided out of the room on silent wings, Augusta watched the post owl until it was just a dot on the horizon then turned to return to her other paperwork to finish before dinner.

* * *

Harry and Zack spent the rest of the day settling into their new home. Zack laid on the giant dog bed taking a light cat-nap to catch up on the rest he didn't get while at the Dursley's household while Harry excitedly set out his things around the room. Lunch consisted of sandwiches and crisps with a juice for Harry, though he did share part of one sandwich with Zack. Harry couldn't get over how he was _finally_ away from the Dursleys, that the Professor… Severus… had offered him a new home. Harry shivered as he remembered the look of rage on Vernon's face and how he had not only pointed a gun at them, but had tried to kill Zack. As abusive as his uncle was, Harry never thought the man would go that far.

Harry hugged his still nameless stuffed dragon to his chest thinking that this was almost like a dream. No more Petunia, Vernon or Dudley. And no more Marge and her ruddy dogs! Harry never wanted to see any of them again. And he was going to a magic school next year, to learn real magic. It was more than Harry ever thought would happen to him. Maybe now he could make friends that wouldn't be scared off by his bully of a cousin, which would be nice. And he would get to ask Severus about his mum!

A soft knock on the door knocked Harry out of his thoughts, Zack snorted and rolled over to his feet as he woke up blinking sleepily.

 _"Whazzthat?"_ Harry placed his dragon stuffie down and walked to the door smiling brightly up at his new guardian.

"I trust you've settled into your new room?" Severus asked. Gone were the almost intimidating black clothing from before, replaced by worn jeans and a plain dark blue shirt. Just because he had a certain reputation to uphold at Hogwarts and in the public didn't mean Severus didn't wear normal muggle clothing, he liked being comfortable in his own home after all. Harry grinned brightly again as he eagerly nodded his head.

"Yes sir, I really like it," he said his voice showing his excitement. "Thank you again for taking me and Zack in."

"Come then, it's time for dinner," Severus said as he motioned for Harry to go ahead of him. Zack eagerly followed, whatever Snape had made smelt really good and he wondered what was for dinner!

* * *

Dog food…. It turned out it was dog food for dinner. Well, at least for Zack anyway. Zack gave a heaving sigh as he stared down into his bowl then snuck a glance at the table where Harry and Snape were enjoying a hearty looking stew. The smell took him back to the nights his Ma would make stew, making him miss her all the more.

 _'Shoulda known this was gonna happen,'_ Zack thought to himself as he turned back to the bowl with a cringe on his face, which looked really funny on a dog. The food in the bowl was a brown mashed up mess, covered in some sort of gravy, it was unappetizing looking and smelt funny. Truth be told, it reminded Zack of the food Shinra fed cadets when he first joined the SOLDIER program or what they had fed the army. The food for the SOLDIERS wasn't much better and many had learned to either cook for themselves or live on take-out.

Sighing again, Zack gave in and lowered his head, mentally gagging and he took a bite of the stuff Snape had called dog food.

 _'Oh planet! It tastes just like the food in the mess hall too!'_ Zack thought with a mental wail as he forced himself to eat. He would not be surprised if Shinra really had fed its army dog food, anything not to spend a lot of money if they could get away with it. Too bad Snape was very firm that Zack would not be eating human food like he had been getting away with at the Dursleys, hopefully Harry could maybe talk the man into feeding him something other than… than whatever this stuff was cause he didn't know if he could stomach eating Shinra quality food like this every day. _"Bleh…"_

Harry glanced over at Zack, watching him eat with a sulky look on his face.

"I don't think Zack likes that stuff," Harry said.

"He cannot continue to eat the same food you do," Severus said then sighed. "But we can research alternatives at a later time, I only picked up what I saw at the shop. For now, I will inform you of the house rules." Harry quickly turned his attention to his new guardian. "On top of the rules of not entering my lab, office or room without permission, you will have only a few chores. You will keep your room clean, you will clean up after yourself and after Zackary. You will be responsible for your familiar's feeding, cleaning and playing with him. You will take out the garbage and sweep the floors once a week and you will help wash the dishes after dinner." When Snape didn't continue, Harry blinked in surprise.

"T-that's it?" He asked. "W-what about cleaning the rest of the house? The dusting and the laundry? The gardening? And the cooking? I kinda like cooking."

"While chores are common and in fact are a good thing for children your age to have, the amount of work your relatives placed on you was not normal. They used you as their personal House Elf," Severus explained.

"What… what's a House Elf?" Harry asked. He knew what an 'Elf' was, or at the very least what the general idea of an Elf from books was but he never heard of a 'House Elf'.

"Mibly," Severus called out loud in lieu of answering Harry's question. Both Harry and Zack, who had come over in curiosity, jumped as a small being appeared suddenly with a burst of displaced air that made a 'Pop' sound. It was short with long, floppy-looking bat-like ears, bald and with large purple colored eyes.

"Professy Snapes be calling Mibly?" the creature said with a high pitched voice that made it sound feminine. Mibly wore a tea towel wrapped around it… her… like a toga with a small crest decorating the corner.

"This, Harry, is a House Elf," Severus explained. "Mibly is my personal House Elf at Hogwarts. Despite the name, they are not related to Elves but instead are an off-shoot of Brownies."

"Wow…" Harry said with wide eyes as this was his first time seeing or meeting a magical creature.

 _"Holy Ifrit! That thing looks like a goblin!"_ Zack barked loudly making Mibly jump at the sound and stare at him with wide eyes. _"Just put some shorts, a pointy hat and some boxing gloves on it."_

"If Professy Snapes is not needing Mibly?" Mibly asked as she nervously eyed Zack as if he would attack her but Zack never made any move toward the House Elf.

"Yes, Mibly, you may go," Severus said. Mibly bowed again then disappeared with a pop.

"That was so cool!" Harry grinned widely as he really loved this magical world thing, then looked at Severus confused. "But why did you compare me to Mibly?"

"Finish your dinner," Severus gave the half eaten bowl in front of Harry a pointed look, then took the time to explain what it was House Elves did. He explained how Elves would bond with an individual, families or with places with a high output of magical power and how the House Elves drew on the bond to power their magic. In exchange, they would willingly serve the family or in cases of a place like Hogwarts, keep the school clean and cook all the food.

"So… their not slaves are they?" Harry asked.

"… Some families mistreat the House Elves in their service, but there are many more that treat their House Elves kindly," Severus explained. "House Elves enjoy cleaning and taking care of their family, for many it's a sense of pride. Mibly belongs to the school, but she was assigned as my personal House Elf while I work there."

"So they do all the work and cooking, that's why you said my aunt and uncle treated me like one?" Harry asked.

"And how they abused you the same way some families will abuse House Elves," Severus added thinking of the Malfoy's and their treatment of the House Elves bonded to their family. "But, if you are feeling useless, my neighbor is sure to find you some work."

"Neighbor?" Harry asked.

"Mrs. Herbert," Severus explained. "She's a near squib whom watches over my house and garden during the school year. A squib is a child born without the ability to use magic into a family of magic users." He quickly added when Harry opened his mouth to ask what a squib was.

"Does she live on that farm next door?" Harry asked.

"She does indeed, I will take you and Zackary to meet her in a few days," Severus said. Zack gave an irritated huffing sneezing noise.

 _"I wish he wouldn't call me that, it sounds like I'm in trouble with my Ma or with Angeal,"_ He muttered into Harry's mind.

"During the school year, she will watch you after school until I leave Hogwarts for the day," Severus continued. "I usually live in the school when it is in session but for this year I will return here after the day is done."

"I'm not going to the same school as before am I?" Harry asked. He didn't think he would, he had a feeling Snape's house was a long way from Little Whinging.

"No, you will be going to the local school just for the next year. After that you will be going to Hogwarts," Severus explained. Harry found himself hoping he could make a couple of friends at his new school even if it was just for a short time. With no Dudley to run the kids off, and no one knowing who he was or knowing the awful rumors his aunt and uncle told people about him Harry had high hopes that he would.

And if he didn't…. well at least he had Zack to play with.

* * *

Dumbledore sighed softly as he settled back into the plush wingback chair that sat in front of the fire place in his personal quarters and drew the warm quilt, a gift from a student in the past that was covered in little cartoony bumblebees that buzzed around the surface, over his legs. It was nice to take an evening to sit down after a long day of preparing for the new school year and dealing with his duties in both the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizard, or ICW for short.

Then of course, there were the constant requests for advice and help from their new Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. While Albus never showed it, it did wear on his nerves to have dear Cornelius constantly bother him. Sometimes Albus wondered if he should drop one of his roles, not Headmaster of Hogwarts, of course, he did so love helping to guide young minds toward the future, but one of the others…?

Albus sighed and shook his head with a small smile, opening one of his many candy dishes to snag a lemon drop. For now, nothing would change and Albus wanted to puzzle over the new mystery young Harry Potter presented.

Familiars, while not overly common, weren't unusual to see. The most common familiars were cats, owls and even toads; this was the very reason why these three animals were on the students list every year. Owls also had an added benefit of delivering the paper and mail. Some people gain a familiar while they were children and some as adults, Albus had just started teaching Hogwarts when Fawkes found and bonded with him, a partnership that went a long way of easing his mind and soul after what happened with Gellert. So Harry, who had the potential of being powerful one day bonding on that level with an animal wasn't so surprising. What the creature was on the other hand was.

One could tell a lot about a person through their familiar. Dogs were loyal, pack creatures that would protect those they care about. Albus felt that Harry's familiar being a dog spoke of how loyal Harry would be to those who became his friends. The fact that the bloodwards and Lily's protection had tied themselves to Harry's dog whom Severus referred to as Zack was… well, Albus was at a loss to explain it.

Albus would admit, at least to himself, that he didn't know much about the spell Lily had placed on her young son to save his life that Halloween night so many years ago. She never spoke to him about it or anyone else as far as Albus knew except for maybe her husband. He could only deduce how it worked and had assumed it was a blood ward. He had leant her a book on blood magicks, after warning her to be very careful as blood magic was tricky and could very easily turn against her. He knew she had used the spells inside to erect a blood ward around her older sister's home and had assumed that spell she used was meant to work with the ward.

But according to Severus the wards and protection spell had anchored itself to Harry's familiar. It would seem he didn't know what Lily's intentions were after all. It also eased his heart to see Severus take Harry in, that had surprised him greatly but he was overjoyed to see the young Potions Master was putting aside the hurt of his past and his deep dislike of James Potter to take in the man's son.

Albus's thoughts were interrupted by a tapping sound at the window. He leaned forward and turned to look, seeing an owl waiting on the other side of the glass. Curious as to who would be owling him at this late of an hour, Albus used a bit of wandless magic to open the window and let the owl in. It glided over to him, landing silently on the arm chair and held out its leg with the letter attached.

"Good evening to you as well," Albus chuckled as he plucked the letter from the offered leg. The owl hooted, then took to the air again and glided out of the room. "I guess they don't want a response," the elderly Headmaster said to himself as he turned the letter over, his eyebrows rising almost into his hair when he saw the Longbottom crest.

He and Augusta didn't have the best relationship, they worked well together on the Wizengamot, at least on issues they agreed on, but otherwise spent little time speaking. Augusta blamed Albus for what happened to her son and daughter-in-law, convinced that if Frank and Alice hadn't been a part of the Order of the Phoenix, then the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. wouldn't have attacked them and drove the young couple insane. Albus hadn't been too sure about that, yes, he was willing to admit that Frank and Alice working with the Order might have been part of the reason. But both had been high ranking Aurors as well and had put away many Death Eaters.

Frank's father, Augusta's husband, Adair had agreed with Albus and had never put the blame of what happened on Dumbledore but Adair had never been able to convince his wife of that.

Cracking open the seal and unfolding the letter, Albus's eyebrows rose again as he read the contents. After reading over them again to be sure of what he read, he lowered the letter and thought over this new information.

"Curious… curious indeed," he said turning to Fawkes who trilled a questioning tune. "Not only did Harry gain a familiar in the form of a dog, but so did young Neville. I wonder, my dear Fawkes, if this means something. Both children were targets of Tom due to the prophecy though in the end it was Harry whom was marked as Tom's equal."

Putting the letter onto the side table, Albus leaned back in his seat and pressing his fingertips together so his fingers made a steeple as he stared into the fire. Whenever he thought of that prophecy, he felt a lot of regret, he had never imagined the events that lead to that fateful interview would play out like it had.

Albus had never intended to interview anyone in his younger brother Aberforth's pub, the Hog's Head Inn, but they had a really bad infection of Doxies in the castle, someone had snuck in a Doxy queen near the end of the school year and failed to inform anyone when she escaped. By the time the Doxies were discovered in the school, after the year had ended and some of the Professors had returned from their summer trips, the annoying biting fairies were everywhere, leaving them no choice but to call in an expert to get rid of the things. But in the process, no one living could be in the school, so Albus had to conduct interviews for Defense and Divination elsewhere. It had taken a lot of sweet talking to get Abe to let him use a room in the Hog's Head.

What had happened with Sybill Trelawney was certainly something Albus hadn't seen coming. He had agreed to interview her only out of courtesy rather than any real desire to hire anyone to take over the now empty Divination post. He had, in fact, been thinking of taking Minerva's suggestion of simply shutting the class down all together. Sybill had been the only one to apply and had tried to impress him throughout the whole interview, but it had been abundantly clear that she did not possess the same gift as her Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Cassandra Trelawney. Or at least it had seemed that way at first, right up until Albus had tried to bring the interview to an end only for Sybill to slip into a trance and recite a true prophecy. He had been so shocked by the events, that he hadn't even noticed that someone was listening in on the other side of the door, or that his brother had forcefully removed said someone who was later revealed to be Severus.

Albus had no choice after that but to offer Sybill the job she wanted for her protection, less Tom snatch her up to pull the rest of the prophecy from her. Things had played out from there, where it was discovered that the prophecy could apply to either the Longbottom or Potter child. In the end, Tom had marked Harry as his equal fulfilling the first part of the prophecy and making young Harry the 'chosen one' so to speak. But Albus had always thought that maybe Neville might still have his part to play and he couldn't help but wonder if this was proof of that.

Or it could just be a huge coincidence that both boys just so happened to gain familiars that happen to be dogs. Maybe he was just looking into things way too much as was his habit.

Still…. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce the boys, as protective as Augusta was of her only grandchild Albus doubted Neville had many, if any, friends his age and Harry could do with a new friend that was from a wizarding family. He didn't even think Augusta would disagree with him on this as the Potter and Longbottom families had long been great friends and allies.

Taking another lemon drop from the candy dish, Albus nodded to himself and settled back into his nice comfy chair. He would speak with both Severus and Augusta tomorrow about his idea.

* * *

Author Note: So I gave a plausible reason as to why Dumbledore would interview Trelawney in a pub instead of his office at the school. I know a lot of people see Dumbledore as evil, that seems to be a big trend in Harry Potter fanfics lately I've noticed, and a lot think Dumbles set it up so Snape would hear the prophecy or any other set of reasons but I don't write the secretly evil/dark lord in hiding Dumbledore. I like reading those types of fics, I find a lot of them entertaining, but it's not my personal head canon for the old man.

It's just a case of the castle being fumigated due to a really bad doxie infestation so Dumbledore needs to do all school business off school grounds but at the same time stay near the school. So he's using his brother's pub as a temporary base of operation for school business.


End file.
